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What the hell is this nest for kensington lock, and for what reasons do you seem to have one on your laptop? And in general, to what extent is it good?

In the rubric: kensington, kensington security slot, lock, lock picking, hacking lawyer, tamper specialist, locks, physical security, securityToday in boredom: i have dealt with the theft (or potential theft) of computers only a couple of times in my life. One of which happened about 5 years ago when a person stole my computer but was caught before the device was gone forever. (I still have this laptop—it's my car with pop_os!—And with the help of my fixing buddy john bumstead now has a new screen.) I might be able to prevent it from moving and practically being stolen if the laptop had a physical lock on the side. Such a blocking service, although not used by many home users, is actually quite popular on various modern computers, especially laptops. He became a mobile that was not stolen! It is clear that if i thought in advance, i could stop him from breaking away - at least this is a theory. Today's tedium is thinking about security slots, percentage of devices, and the complexities that a little ultraviolet radiation creates for your privacy, no matter how sad it may be. – Ernie @ tedium

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1984

The year ibm first released its at device, a device with a physical lock on the front panel. The high-quality car, which sold for more than 4,000 greenbacks at a price of the 1980s, used a lock not to make it impossible to order a guide or a sightseeing tour, but also to book, it was easy to enlarge and carry away (its large size helped in this), to also to prevent the use of the machine's keyboard when the main user is away. It was literally the physical version of the password. As modus to geek points out, this feature became a staple of many laptop clones in the early nineties, though like the turbo button, it was lost over time as economy won out.

acco brands, owned by kensington , started its own business as a paper clip maker over a hundred years ago. (Donald giannatti/unsplash)

The company behind the kensington lock slot exists beyond a lot of other things

A paper clip could be a terrible lock. Paperclips, made of thin material, can be easily bent and rearranged everywhere except tuesday. And many people are able to bend it with their bare hands, no special equipment was needed to open it.

But a company famous for something that turned a coin-making center into a stationery conglomerate, is in most cases responsible for the growth of the kensington security slot now.

Founded in 1903, the american clip company has become a titan in the supply of office and stationery supplies. Over time, the medical document has evolved into acco brands, the firm responsible for many new technologies in offices - and classrooms, which you know for granted, and some you probably don't know about at all. Several respected acco brands:

Mead. This well-known stationery manufacturer, especially the famous trapper keeper, sold a significant portion of its stationery services to acco brands in 1920.Five stars. This product manufacturer, at one time or another the mead product line, has become its own brand, and a movie buff is likely to find none if you need one gigantic binding today.Extended gravis. Acquired in 1997, this now-defunct company was known for creating game controllers dedicated to computer users, the most popular of which was the gravis gamepad, an essential element of any worthwhile commander keen session. (Today powera, the toy design organization, supports acco.)Swingline. A well-known stapler maker, one of the company's staplers - the bright red one featured in the movie "office space" - meanwhile didn't go away with what the firm was offering at the time of the video's release, however it did turn into a big seller after they resolved the current problem. @> and the process brings clients to kensington.Founded in 1981 as kensington microware, the company diversified into ibm computer and apple ii accessories, mostly network filters and input hardware. At the forefront of the company's hits was the turbomouse, an early trackball device for the macintosh released after the 1980s. Anil dash will tell attendees that prince, everyone knows, used kensington trackballs.

In many ways, kensington, acquired by acco towards the end of the 1990s, has become a key umbrella brand for acco's digital efforts. The company is still interested in trackballs, but has expanded its product base to include docking stations, computer bags, standing desks, mouse pads, walking adapters, and (of course!) Device protection methods.

By the end of the 1980s and early 1990s, the market for portable computers was growing in earnest, and security concerns were on the rise. Kensington, a firm interested in online accessories in just about every form, has been at the forefront, selling its labors initially as microsaver, a brand that dates back to 1984 (though not yet in a more recent context as a locking mechanism).

2008 macbook pro, https://nuevamuseologia.net/, which features a kensington lock slot. He lives to the right of the wire connector. (William hook/unsplash)

As laptops became more and more popular, physical security elements were built right into these places. Note the model presented in 1992 in pc magazine, the preference for this strategy was described as promoting the laptop concept to businesses that clearly have concerns about 1,000 greenback machines leaving the building every day. In a new way, the security slot was a powerful and effective way to ease the worries of early 90s it departments.

"When the door is closed, the laptop is tried next to the desktop," author christopher. Burr wrote. "If a person tries to steal it, he will either be discouraged or destroy the laptop case in time, rendering it almost useless." And burr wrote that major laptop manufacturers of that historical era, like toshiba and compaq, worked on supporting locks, such as the kensington lock. Survived on a variety of apple laptops until the one-piece macbook pro, which was sold until 2016; absolutely every popular gadget with windows and chromebook still has it, besides, for gadgets that do not have it, like the ipad, the company, as they say, creates its own patented systems to protect them.

There is one nuisance, and it's on youtube.

"Many locks are now at the most expensive scrap metal, and the whole range of bicycle owners are at risk of being easily stolen."

- Sean dewart, bike enthusiast and plaintiff in a 2004 lawsuit against bike lock manufacturer kryptonite, arguing against the vulnerabilities of a known variant of the lock that used a tubular pin tumbler lock, which suffered a notable defeat. By means of a ballpoint pen, which bic annually receives for grandiose fortunes. Kryptonite was forced to start replacing its locks due to the incident and changed the design to something that could not be removed with a normal pen.

Video by inventor jay derman demonstrates one of their security locking mechanisms.

The lock designer in charge of the long patents on kensington locks is frustrated with the security status of the locks

Now, i tried to contact kensington a number of times from 3 to 10 - depending on different channels, to write a nice nice article about an object that is so common on the latest computers that a lot of technical reviewers bother to say it for a moment, in which case it is there. It's a pity, but i understand; people are busy.

So i tried the second method and got completely different results. I googled patents, looked around and saw who helped patent the devices, they determined the physical security of computers with age. In particular, one personal one constantly popped up also such a bike had both a website (actually, several resources), even a twitter account with an avatar with a kensington security slot (at the stage of writing this article, 32 subscribers, including me).And, frankly, i got the feeling that the representative of humanity still does not leave the existence of hack-lawyer.

Wait, what?Well, in the case when you watch youtube a lot, you most likely know a channel with over three million subscribers; this is a channel where an unnamed citizen with a supposedly legal background rakes up every model of lock mechanism known to people and dismantles them in the shortest possible time. It is the bane of the existence of locksmiths in the world, as it exposes many of their nuances to a larger reality, and oftentimes he hounds locksmiths so viciously that one is tempted to say, "wait, wait, they're dead."

The locks that are inserted into kensington's online security games are not immune to the interests of a maryland lawyer, and practically when said, lockpickinglawyer applied his own talents to the kensington fortress for a laptop this year kensington was completely embarrassed.

First, lockpickinglawyer noted that he didn't really need to pick a lock to get a satellite, thanks to the thin cable. He became attached to. According to the indicated words, with the right cutting tool a person would have been able to break through. But later he still proceeded to pick the lock with a developed tool that dismantled the device in a short time. No way. In 2007, an early youtube video of a terrible game revealed that, unlike the kryptonite locks that were recalled in the mid-2000s, kensington locks can be easily cracked with just a piece of rolled cardboard. Admittedly, once designs have changed, however, this is valuable.

For several years, jay c. Derman played an important role in laying similar locks used in businesses, kiosks and markets everywhere. Above. Derman, the inventor of locking mechanisms and other safety-oriented hardware, has been developing various kinds of physical risk-free mechanisms for virtually 50 percent of the years, starting in the mid-1970s during the fuel crisis.

“ Instead of languishing in lines and therefore not wanting to have my gas stolen, in what circumstances it cost $ 1 per gallon, i made a lockable gas cap, ”he recalled during a telephone conversation with me. These gas locks ended up becoming a viable side business in his eyes and somehow turned lock making into a full-time job. (Note: a passionate guy; he usually claimed.)

Eventually, when gas cap security was no longer a consumer need, he began to create security mechanisms for electronics with his own first pair. Patents reflecting the security needs of their car stereos (lots of equipment troubles the craftsmen discussed earlier) and vcrs (like a special really ambitious parental lock). Once he reached a level in that creation, he moved on to slot machine locking mechanisms for floppy drives. Attributed to derman and owned by acco brands. The time of this patent, where, most likely, the trackball appears, has expired recently. (Google patents)

These early patents meanwhile explain how derman became strongly associated with kensington. What's happening? More precisely, the company violated his patents by creating blocking mechanisms created on slots that were identical to his, which leads to how in the mid-nineties he filed for review in the courts. But the court session actually became the beginning of a business relationship when kensington and acco brands purchased his early patents and left the structure as a designer for hire, a regular job that was in his eyes quite lucrative if he created it, getting paid in the five-figure range for inspired by his inventions, which he produced systematically and only part of which he patented.

“For some of the prototypes i was paid money; some were indifferent to them,” he said, adding that few of them were turned into a patent, but he continued to invent as normal. "Then i'll do one a week." Sounds big, i know, but it's true.”

Derman's work with acco and kensington has resulted in numerous patents over a span of more than a decade, although, according to the words provided, the collaboration ended around 2010. Or so, as the company decided to do the build itself.

It was a long time, but derman didn't strike me as a particularly nostalgic guy focused on previous victories. ; And by the way, all of our conversation was hardly focused on the kensington security slot.Instead of these formalities, he really focused on the state of modern physical security, or lack thereof.

2006

The year kensington won a patent infringement suit against any no small accessory manufacturer, belkin, on the design of their security locks. “We built a security slot that is found on 95% of all computers manufactured today and invested heavily in proprietary locking technologies that benefit consumers,” said boris elisman, then president of kensington. "We try to vigorously protect our intellectual property license and protect our proprietary products."

Derman's padlock security website discussing his patent request for his latest padlock. He directly credits lockpickinglawyer for inspiring the look.

Why does a guy who's been involved in designing so many kensington locks want to outdo lockpickinglawyer with his latest lock design

Everywhere after our call, derman seems to have decided not to dwell solely on his own past successes. In fact much the opposite is true. When i tried to focus on the angle of nostalgia or the explicit coverage of his main inventions - a bit of softball, which i naturally ask about in situations like this - there was no framing.

“My slot block? Well, that doesn’t save them anymore,” he says, explaining that physical locks have to adapt sooner or later, just as digital security often breaks. “If a person wants to steal it, he can steal it. Because some of the poker players use an iphone or a cell phone, they can learn to steal it if they want. Past work, i got the feeling that instead, louis vuitton was concerned about the many locks that were not actually safe, through the growing interest in videos that reveal the secrets of the locks that we use daily.

Perhaps that's why derman, who's moonlighted at designing things like soap dispensers that deal with simple drinking glasses and mouse traps that simplify a century-old basic design, has become interested in designing the latest designs of locks pin up aviator again. Last year he applied for a patent for a lock with fittings that he hopes will prevent the lockpickinglawyer (or anyone else, for that matter) from picking; he received a patent in late spring.

Drawing from derman's new patent application, "padlock". (Google patents)

The structure is built from a standard design like a padlock, but has a side metal chamber on the outside, so the way to the minute of the lock can only be requested with an additional -long key. He emphasizes that every padlock can be broken to the limit, but at the very least, he is hired to be a serious task for anyone who intends to break it using traditional hacking methods.

"If such can" i can't get in using the hanging door then they want to break the door, okay, it's not picking the lock. But they really had to use aids - but huge forces and a whole list of noise - to rip out the garage, or the storage room door, or the gate, you know, break them. However, that doesn't matter—it's the use of a power drill, or a hydraulic cutting tool, or a portable power saw.”

In every sense, derman caught the message of many lock picking lawyers. Porn videos to the soul: many private castles, in particular they are sold by large, popular brands, are theater, but not security. So he used these abilities to make the best castle that can become strong enough to represent security, but not theater.

He only looms on the horizon to sell the design of the castle to someone ( under the current circumstances he accepts offers, say "em tedium sent you and failed to convince lockpickinglawyer to strike at the provided patented device, however, there is hope that this by and large will happen.

After talking with jay, i can note that the person is actually the one who took the youtuber's wishes to heart.

My experience of visual contact with jay derman made me think about the kensington security slot quite elementarily i first thought when i first decided to look into this.

I certainly think that physical security is a real challenge for most businesses, and being able to install a gadget in a fixed corner is important in mobile areas like to market trade and public stalls.And while being able to attach a lock slot to the sidebar of your gadget helps you secure your gadget in the way that a kensington lock does, such a move may not be able to get easier over time, for example.

Perhaps, derman rights. It is problematic to understand nostalgia in a certain sense, which is more likely than before to be defeated by a bunch of videos online that explain their main secrets.

The term "arms race" has appeared. In the modern discussion at a certain point, implying what the pathologies will be in the next ten years, just as we block objects as tactics change and progressive tablets become obsolete. Compare this to, say, using sms for two-factor authentication. At first it seemed like a good idea, but gradually the word began to spread that it was quite possible to crack it, and now it is considered bad practice.

To some extent, this is what physical locks lock. Feel urgent. Of course, i don't think that citizens tend to pick every lock they see in front of them, and there is much to be said about the importance of strong banking security systems. Really, when my smartphone was stolen, one pose would be enough to save it for a short time. But one posture is not enough to keep the valuables brought in relative comfort in the long term.

I think that the complexity of protecting digital devices, when the once secure methods of protecting customers, sooner or later bend and, may break, among other things, as a result of being used to mass physical devices. You've been seeing this for a long time with biometric padlocks and other types of locks that combine physical and digital functions in male power. Such a nuisance with the appropriate information, even the best physical lock is capable of failing, the same with a digital front door. It is for this reason that workers like the lockpickinglawyer live.

As for the phenomenon that many people don't even know what the situation is, i've been thinking a lot about the kensington security socket. I'm sure you're the same way, because it's a promise to protect your smartphone in the physical world.

With a lot of talk about ransomware and data invisibility, theft has been a problem for a long time. Too.

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Do you find this a commendable read? Share with a friend! And thanks to jay derman for the info on my emails.

And feel free to check out setapp, one of my favorite services. Hooray.

Ernie smith recently wasted joy and relaxation

Ernie smith is a tedium editor and avid internet joker. Between its many third-party internet projects, the building material finds time to catch up with our funnier wife kat, who is funnier than him.

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