When you are hoping to maximize your travel security, one of the most obvious places to start is with buying a lock. But how secure are luggage locks? The disturbing truth is that luggage locks are terribly insecure.
What does the insecurity of these locks mean for your luggage security? How does that affect the protection of your property? In order to investigate these issues, we will have to venture deep into the terrifying truth about luggage locks.
What security do TSA locks offer your luggage?
TSA locks are not secure. The shackles can be cut by most low-quality diagonal cutting pliers, the lock cylinders can be picked open with very little skill, and the schematics for the master keys have been revealed to the public. If you are using a TSA lock, you are getting the illusion of security.
The biggest benefit to using TSA locks is that the TSA can open your bag without having car lockout service. This still might not keep your lock from being cut off, as many travelers report having TSA cut locks off regardless of having been TSA approved. But at least there is a chance that your insecure lock will not be broken open.
A TSA approved padlock is the next step up from a zip tie. It provides the same amount of initial security if you are worried about criminal tampering. However, a TSA lock can potentially be taken off and relocked on the bag, where a zip tie cannot be reattached once removed. With a TSA approved lock, after a lawful search, there is a chance that your luggage can maintain its same level of “security”.
1. The TSA Can Remove Any Luggage Lock Without Cause
If you are checking luggage, the TSA reserves the right to open your baggage by the means required to properly carry out the search. In case you have not received a “Notice Of Baggage Inspection” letter in your checked luggage, it reads as follows:
To Protect you and your fellow passengers, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is required by law to inspect all checked baggage. As part of this process, some bags are opened and physically inspected. Your bag was among those selected for physical inspection.
During the inspection, your bag and its contents may have been searched for prohibited items. At the completion of the inspection, the contents were returned to your bag.
If the TSA security officer was unable to open our bag for inspection because it was locked, the officer may have been forced to break the locks on your bag. TSA sincerely regrets having to do this, however TSA is not liable for the damage to your locks resulting from this necessary security precaution.
The note goes on to suggest that the recipient of the inspection notice refer to www.tsa.gov to find “packing tips and suggestions on how to secure your baggage during your next trip…” Is it ironic for a note telling you what you just read to recommend that you use better security next time you fly? It may seem that way, but the spirit in which it is intended is that locks are not security, knowing what is going to get your bag flagged is the security you need for avoiding TSA attention.
2. Every Luggage Lock Can Be Opened
It is true that every lock can be picked, even locks that have not been picked yet can still be opened. Opening methods that travel security professionals use are almost always destructive. There is no lock that exists that can withstand every type destructive entry method given an unlimited amount of time with the lock.
Not even the best padlocks in existence can hold up to the highest level of pressure that can be applied to them. Do not expect that your security can keep out any law enforcement. Even though you may be hoping to avoid criminally minded baggage checkers, they are within their right to open your luggage at all costs.
Though there are documented cases where strong enough security has been enough to have TSA give up on trying to open it. I don’t fully understand the implications of security that has law enforcement give up, but I would not expect to be the exception to the rule that if the opening of your bag a legally sanctioned it will be carried out.
In terms of criminal threats without the full force of the law behind them, your locks can still be opened. However, when it comes to standard criminals you have to consider every aspect of luggage security and not just the security of your luggage locks.
3. No Luggage Lock Can Protect a Zipper
Any luggage lock that is placed to secure a zipper is completely useless. Anyone with a ballpoint pen can puncture the zipper track (aka teeth). This gives anyone access to the contents of your bag in seconds. Once a person has rooted around in your belongings, they can then move the zipper’s pull tab over the open teeth and reseal the bag without any sign of entry.
If you have an anti-puncture zipper, then your zipper is safe, but a lock can never protect the zipper. When you want a lock to matter at all, you have to use luggage that has hasps, not a zipper. Hasps are common on hard shell cases, which are intended to protect the contents of the luggage.
It is also unlikely that you will end up with a bag that has an anti-puncture zipper if you do not go out of your way to purchase one. This feature is not common, in spite of the fact that the method of entry is extremely popular for criminals all over the world.
4. Your Bag Undermines the Security of a Luggage Lock
Security is not the main concern for standard baggage manufactures. Unless the luggage has been designed with security in mind, the lock you place on it is not going to matter much at all. Besides zipper protection, you have to be concerned about more brash criminals that will not care about surreptitiously or even covertly open your bag.
A very common method of entry that criminals will use is to cut your bag. You made need something like a Pelican case. With a light slice from a sharp knife, a thief now has access to everything in your luggage. Unless your bag can resist cutting, having a lock on your bag is not going to truly protect the property inside.
Most likely your bag is always going to be easier to break than an incredibly strong lock. It does not make sense to have an extremely powerful lock if the case it is securing is itself insecure. Be aware of the level of protection provided by the bag before you make any investment in a lock.
5. Built-in Luggage Locks Are Not Secure
Built In Luggage Lock
This is a guiding principle more than a hard and fast rule, but it is important to think about the fact that almost any piece of luggage you buy is not going to have high-security locks. This might be something that the case claims, but you need to know better than to believe the advertising.
Even if the brand of security being used is not notorious for manufacturing subpar locks, it might still be something cheap and ineffective. A lot of times locks on cases and luggage will claim to be high-security, but they are just using a novel lock type. Such lock types that are used as built-in luggage locks include tubular locks, cruciform locks, and disk detainer locks.
If a lock is poorly made, it does not matter what kind of internal components it has. Poorly made locks are not secure. They break easier because of the lower quality metal, and that means they can be broken open easier. Mass production required to place them on luggage also car door lock replace very simple to the point where most of these locks can be opened with bypasses or improvised keys.
What is the best way to protect luggage?
As you may have learned from the article about protecting your beach bag, the best possible way to protect any luggage is to keep your eyes on it. This is not going to be possible at every point of your trip, especially if you have to check your bags. The important thing is to take advantage of the instances where you can watch over your property.
Your locks need to take as long to open without permission as the average time you will leave them unmonitored. As has already been established, flying in the United States will be the exception to this rule. Law enforcement will have too much time with your luggage, and they will have the authority to open the lock. But for deterring criminals, this type of security assessment is a must.
Final Thoughts
It doesn’t matter if you are in one of the most dangerous countries in the world, or you are sleeping over at a friends house in the next town over, when you have luggage, you will attract the attention of criminals. Luggage locks are not going to do much to protect your bag. You need to consider a lot more than just luggage locks.
Office Business Blog
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Moultrie A-20 Mini Game Camera Review
For hunters who take their shooting sessions seriously, a game camera is a game changer. It enhances the shooting experience and lessens vision work by capturing good images that can help you locate your subject faster and more conveniently.
There are so many game cameras that you can look up. While you may already have prospective cameras in mind, this product review serves as a guide for the Moultrie A-20 Mini Game Camera so that you can arrive at the best decision for your game camera purchase.
Keep reading this Moultrie A-20 Mini Game Camera Review to be guided thoroughly.
Product Description
The weatherproof plastic case makes it sturdy use during rainy season. It also has Tripod mount plus strap slots.The Moultrie A-20 Mini Game Camera has infrared 36 LED flash with a 50-feet range. This is helpful in targeting subjects from afar.
The Moultrie A-20 Mini Game Camera captures 12 MP still shots or 480px videos. It is built with multi-shot and single-image modes.
Its battery life captures up to 16,000 images. Lastly, you can connect the Moultrie A-20 with SD/SDHC Class 4 cards.
Features and Benefits
The Moultrie A-20 Mini Game Camera has an Infrared flash that provides both reliability and high concealing quality. The Moultrie A-20 Mini Game Camera is furnished with 36 infrared LEDs that allow you to capture game movement up to 50 feet even in the dark.
You can shoot with 12 MPs still shots or 480px videos at two different resolution options of low or high during the day or night.
The multi-shot and single-image modes offer the hunters to customize the mode of their game camera to maximize its features and have an excellent shooting experience.
The weatherproof plastic case comes with a standard 1/4″-20 tripod mount and back slots, which is compatible with a Python lock cable that you can buy separately. The Moultrie A-20 Mini Game Camera requires eight AA batteries to work.
The game camera itself can capture up to 16,000 images. Finally, the Moultrie A-20 is compatible with SD/SDHC Class 4 cards or higher and can store up to 32 GB of memory space.
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
When You're Ready to Sell the Business
For a number of small business owners who may be ready to sell their companies, the past few years have been a time to cut unnecessary expenses, make ends meet and to patiently wait for the market to rebound. There simply was no use in trying to sell the business when company revenues and profits were down. Low purchase-price valuations only made matters worse.
But 2010 saw a slight improvement in the business-for-sale market and many experts expect that 2011 will be a turning point for the industry. Financing options are improving for buyers and banks are putting a new focus on lending.
So, if you're thinking of selling your business this year, here are four tips to maximize your profit.
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
How to Build Your Business to Attract Buyers
When Loren Bendele started online coupon company Savings.com in 2007, he wondered why traditional paper coupon companies didn't have more of an internet presence. It was a simple idea that filled a niche in an established market.
While his marketing plan initially was designed to attract customers, it also was meant to gain the attention of prospective acquirers--and it did. In June 2012 Bendele sold Savings.com to Cox Target Media, parent company of Valpak, for a reported $100 million.
"We always thought the traditional coupon players would be looking for ways to migrate their business," Bendele explains. So he intentionally built his company to sell.
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
A friend approached me recently about selling his manufacturer's rep company. He has done well being a middleman between a dozen buyers and suppliers in the automotive sector. Though the business is real (with revenue, expenses, etc.), we're perplexed about how to sell it. All he would be selling is himself and his relationships.
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