Locks & Bagels

One of my favorite security stories concerns a bagel manufacturer in a southern city that doesn’t need to be named (yes, there are bagels made – and eaten – in the south). This was a small-scale manufacturer who began as simply a local baker and gradually began selling his bagels, pies, and other baked goods to specialty grocers.

At first he had a fairly standard industrial refrigerator in which to keep his dough chilled.
Later, as his business expanded, he built a new facility for more large-scale production, and included in the design a well insulated cold-room, where he kept not only batches of dough but also fresh fruit that he used for tarts and pies. The cold-room was essential to counter the heat of the baking room bleeding through the building.

A very precise and careful man, Mr. – let’s call him Mr. Reed, for want of a better name – always made sure that doors were kept closed, windows locked, and everything as organized as could be. He also had a morbid fear of being locked in the cold-room unable to get out; I suppose he’d watched The Shining a few times too many. So the door had no
lock or automatic closing mechanism, just a stiff, heavy chrome latch with handles inside and out. It was deliberately hung slightly askew, so that when unlatched it would swing open rather than closed.

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Behind Lock & Key

Each of us has different security needs. I recently looked around our house, and I wasn’t too surprised by the number of locks I found. With five outside doors, not counting the garage door, we use two keys for three types of locks (all but one are keyed the same). The glass deck door requires a key to unlock it from the inside, to prevent someone from breaking a panel of glass, reaching in, and unlocking the lock.

But what I found inside surprised me. All three bedrooms, the two baths, and the basement door have locks on them. Nothing sophisticated, mind you, just the type that allows you to push the inside handle and turn it clockwise to keep anyone from getting access from the hall. They’re easy enough to pick – all you need is a six-penny nail, which can be inserted into a hole on the outside cover plate to release the spring lock inside. My dad installed them for my siblings and me, acknowledging that even teens deserve some privacy. Now, with no kids here, we don’t need them for that, but they’re equally effective at keeping prying guests from poking into bedrooms during a party (and believe me, we’ve had party guests like that!).

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The Humble Padlock

I remember my first padlock. It was a Master combination lock for my gym locker in seventh grade. The dial was blue, and if I’m mot mistaken, the combination was 13-24-4. Three turns clockwise, two counterclockwise, and clockwise to the final number. Since those days I’ve grown a little more sophisticated about the locks I use. For a number of years I’ve had a Hampton padlock for my bicycle, with a case-hardened steel shackle, brass pin tumblers in a laminated steel body, coated with black rubberized plastic to make it weatherproof (and protect the bike’s paint). It’s a handsome lock, rectangular, squat, and strong, but it’s nothing compared to some of the locks on the market today. As far as I can tell, it’s now sold as the True Value hardware brand.CLICK FOR FULL ARTICLE

Keys & Kids

Everybody’s familiar with Toys ‘R’ Us, a parent’s best friend or worst nightmare. I drove by our local store the other day and it occurred to me there ought to be a sister company called Kids ‘R’ Kurious. The thought came to mind because two friends of mine have a 19-month-old daughter whose curiosity is just coming into flower. Her favorite fascination just now is keys.

A few weeks ago, walking in their neighborhood, she and her dad came across a group of three postal drop boxes – the kind with a slot to drop the mail in and a locked door for the mailman to retrieve it. Dad was indulging Bo’s interest by letting her play with the seven keys he carries for his home, office, etc. The toddler decided to toddle up to the mailboxes and, to her father’s amusement, try all seven keys in the lock of the first box . . . and then the second, and then the third. Twenty-one failures later, she was ready to head home.


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A Legacy of Gifts for June

Two of my favorite holidays come in June – Flag Day on June 14, and Father’s Day, this year on June 18.

What I particularly love about Flag Day is that it gives us an opportunity to be patriotic without all the red-white-and-blue hoopla of the Fourth of July. You never see blonde bimbos draped over Ford trucks in Flag Day ads. Instead we should think about the flag and its history and what it represents to our nation, because it really is a symbol that tells a story. Conceptually, it echoes the British Union Jack, whose crossed bars represent the joining of England and Scotland into Great Britain. And unlike traditional banners, there’s no coat of arms suggesting a royal family or powerful aristocracy that run things.


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A Word of Command

“Still, the gate is the weakest point.”
Aragorn, in The Two Towers

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Trilogy of the Ring will remember the siege of Helms Deep, when the Saruman’s orcs attacked the fortress by blasting through its wooden gate. A few chapters later, the forces of Sauron did the same during the siege of Gondor, using the great battering ram, Grond, to break down the iron gates that had stood invincible for thousands of years. Even earlier, Gandalf had a heck of a time keeping shut the door from the Chamber of Records after his companions fled; he closed it using a closing spell, but the Balrog on the other side overcame him, and he had to use a word of Command. The effect of that was to shatter the door, the wall, and the roof of the chamber and bring it all crashing down, closing off the stairway behind him. Shades of Jericho!


Most of us don’t have Gandalf’s access to spells and words of Command, and the last thing we want is to bring down our own walls to protect ourselves from intruders. We have to think in more mundane terms about the options available to us.


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Who Has The Keys?

Access control is a major problem for businesses large and small. Companies with high-tech access control systems – key cards, fingerprint- or retina scanners, etc. – can easily reprogram access codes and delete former employees from the data base. But even smaller businesses that rely on the security provided by a good, traditional lock-and-key system need to update their access controls regularly. This is an issue whether you use padlocks, cylinder locks, or police locks.

The first step is to conduct a regular Key Audit to review the status and location of every key, making sure that no unauthorized person has one. In small businesses with few employees, this can be a fairly simple process and one that’s sufficient to ensure access control.

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Mr. Locks Featured in Smartmoney.com

An undercover reporter apparently sniffed around to check on nationwide locksmith pricing, and found us to be a worthy "Deal of the Day" feature.

Read her full story here: http://www.smartmoney.com/dealoftheday/index.cfm?story=20060327

Proximity Readers

Proximity readers are among the simplest access control systems to install and use. The principle is simple: they are encoded to read and respond to electronic signals from access cards, and only to cards that are specifically authorized. Unlike the swipe cards used at ATM readers at groceries and other stores, most proximity cards don’t require contact with the reader or a Personal Identification Number (PIN) to work. Proximity is enough, with sensitivity limited to as little as an inch or two or expanded to over a foot – especially useful for handicap-access doors, parking garages, etc.

Full article can be read HERE.

Magnetic Locks

Magnetic locks, like electric strikes, use electromagnetism to control the locking mechanism. They rely on electric power, whether from a building current or a battery, and as a result they’re as dependable as a refrigerator, TV, or bedside alarm clock (though like any other household appliance they can also be vulnerable to power failure). But because no key is needed to operate magnetic locks, mag-locks can’t be picked – and you’ll never be locked out because you’ve lost the key.


The core of a magnetic lock control system is an electromagnet made of advanced metal alloys. When electric power activates it, the bolt slides in or out, up or down, along its U-shaped channel to lock or unlock the door. Some mag-locks also incorporate timing mechanisms that allow them to operate only at certain times – during business hours, for example. Others have “transaction memory,” which can record every use or attempted use. This function can be especially valuable with locks that use number-pads rather than coded cards: if an unauthorized person tries to gain access using incorrect codes more than twice, for example, the lock can automatically set off an alarm.


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