Chapter 6 - Locked but Not Secure: An Overview of Conventional and High Security Locks

Abstract

As more and more physical security responsibilities are assigned to information technology managers, it is incumbent upon them to understand “lock basics.” This is important to accurately assess potential threats against their facilities and infrastructure that may involve the bypass of locks and locking hardware. There is a great deal of marketing hyperbole in the security industry with regard to the resistance of locks against methods of covert and forced entry. Some manufacturers are unaware of certain methods of attack or seek to minimize or downplay the potential results of such attacks. They often rely on the UL and BHMA standards as their assurance that their locks have met those requirements, and are thus deemed to be secure. It should be remembered that UL 437 is not a high security rating, but a “higher security” certification for locks. If high security and nonhigh security cylinders are mixed in the same system, the security of all of the locks should not be compromised. High security locks should offer significant resistance to forced and covert methods of entry. Keys should contain at least one element that cannot be easily replicated. Independent research should be conducted before selecting high security cylinders to be certain that what they promise is what they actually deliver.