Kurt_eh
09-21-2004, 01:48 PM
There's video at the link below. It's quite revealing! :eek:
Bike owners panic over vulnerable lock
Last Updated Tue, 21 Sep 2004 13:21:16 EDT
VANCOUVER - Bicyclists concerned that their Kryptonite locks can be picked using a ballpoint pen have been scrambling to buy new locks.
"Yesterday we had 20 to 40 customers come in, all frantic that they had a Kryptonite lock ... and were switching their locks," said Simon Coutts, a bike shop owner in Vancouver.
The makers of the enormously popular bike U-lock began scrambling to limit damage to their products' reputation last week, when stories about the locks' vulnerability spread across the internet.
Some lock owners posted movies of themselves picking their own locks using the non-writing end of a Bic ballpoint pen.
"When I heard it, it was like, 'Yeah right.' And I looked on the website and sure enough there it was," said Tony Buttner, a bike courier in Vancouver. "I tried it and it took me longer to get the end off the pen than it did to unlock my bike."
The company has said it would give a "sizable rebate" to customers who bought their locks more than two years ago. People with newer locks will get a free upgrade.
The company said it will also speed up introducing new products that use a different type of lock technology which it claims isn't vulnerable to the pen attack.
Details on the rebate program will be posted on the Kryptonite website beginning Wednesday.
Written by CBC News Online staff
Copyright ©2004 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/09/21/bikelocks_040921.html
Bike owners panic over vulnerable lock
Last Updated Tue, 21 Sep 2004 13:21:16 EDT
VANCOUVER - Bicyclists concerned that their Kryptonite locks can be picked using a ballpoint pen have been scrambling to buy new locks.
"Yesterday we had 20 to 40 customers come in, all frantic that they had a Kryptonite lock ... and were switching their locks," said Simon Coutts, a bike shop owner in Vancouver.
The makers of the enormously popular bike U-lock began scrambling to limit damage to their products' reputation last week, when stories about the locks' vulnerability spread across the internet.
Some lock owners posted movies of themselves picking their own locks using the non-writing end of a Bic ballpoint pen.
"When I heard it, it was like, 'Yeah right.' And I looked on the website and sure enough there it was," said Tony Buttner, a bike courier in Vancouver. "I tried it and it took me longer to get the end off the pen than it did to unlock my bike."
The company has said it would give a "sizable rebate" to customers who bought their locks more than two years ago. People with newer locks will get a free upgrade.
The company said it will also speed up introducing new products that use a different type of lock technology which it claims isn't vulnerable to the pen attack.
Details on the rebate program will be posted on the Kryptonite website beginning Wednesday.
Written by CBC News Online staff
Copyright ©2004 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/09/21/bikelocks_040921.html