A company known as Startup Chuck has revealed details of its “autodialer” tool, which can crack combinations on traditional safes.
Using a stepper motor, the device tries hundreds of thousands of combinations extremely quickly, but automatically stops as soon as the correct one is found.
At this point, a bungie cord attached to the safe handle opens it automatically, meaning the safe’s contents can be accessed quickly and easily.
While this is bad news for the security industry, the lesson to be learned is that any security system – however effective – can always be beaten given enough time and the right motivation and technology.
For further reading on how older security systems can be outperformed, check out our feature on how smart locks can be hacked.
