Timeline for Can TSA open regular suitcase combination locks? How?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
26 events
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| Oct 19, 2021 at 10:32 | comment | added | Relaxed | With or without a master key, a suitcase lock is not going to provide much protection. I do not use one myself but I guess the main benefits are deterring the most casual theft and making it difficult to tamper with the suitcase without being detected. It could perhaps be compared to wrapping your suitcase in plastic? | |
| Oct 18, 2021 at 17:40 | comment | added | WGroleau | Yes, I knew about the 3D control files. But I'm fully convinced that master keys were on the black market within a week after they were invented. | |
| Oct 18, 2021 at 9:36 | comment | added | TooTea | @WGroleau You can actually buy the full set of master keys for just a few €/$/£ off your favourite online marketplace. Or download 3D models for free and 3D-print your own set. All that just because a careless TSA agent once let somebody take a photo of his set of keys. (Which was bound to happen at some point.) | |
| Oct 18, 2021 at 0:45 | comment | added | WGroleau | A TSA lock is a joke. If hundreds of TSA agents have master keys, so do dozens of criminals (at least). | |
| Nov 10, 2016 at 17:42 | comment | added | Erik | Your first link regarding the opening bag mandate without the owner present is broken. | |
| Dec 2, 2014 at 2:36 | comment | added | gparyani | @aditsu Oh, sorry, I meant opening a bag, but it can be used to bypass a lock. | |
| Dec 2, 2014 at 2:29 | comment | added | aditsu quit because SE is EVIL | @damryfbfnetsi that has absolutely nothing to do with opening a lock | |
| Dec 2, 2014 at 2:13 | comment | added | gparyani | The TSA can open a non-Travel Sentry lock even without breaking it on certain bags (youtube.com/watch?v=zMTXzQ0Vqn8). | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 15:10 | history | edited | JoErNanO♦ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Dec 1, 2014 at 15:05 | history | edited | Relaxed | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Dec 1, 2014 at 15:01 | comment | added | gnasher729 | Most cheap combination locks can be opened with a bit of patience and a bit of experience. If you put the first key in the right position, then the second key will often move a little bit easier. That would be polite method, they can use brute force instead and you'll need a new lock. | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 13:15 | comment | added | Relaxed | @HenningMakholm Good point although tight control would seem difficult in any case. Incidentally, would you know if the TSA is actually using something like that or do they have something else? | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 13:12 | comment | added | hmakholm left over Monica | @Relaxed: The point I was trying to make is that if it was a matter of a special "master key" one could at least hope that access to those master keys is tightly controlled. But common lockpicking tools are easy for criminals to get hold of (and probably not even illegal to buy and sell for "educational reasons" in many places). | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 13:01 | comment | added | Relaxed | @HenningMakholm Maybe, but it sounds like a distinction without a difference. I did use scare quotes, mind you. | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 12:58 | comment | added | hmakholm left over Monica | @Relaxed: The "strangely shaped master keys" in that video are not master keys, but simple lockpicking tools. What the video is showing is not "here's what the TSA master key looks like", but that the locks are easy to pick. | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 12:07 | comment | added | aditsu quit because SE is EVIL | So far all the TSA locks I've seen can be unlocked with a key. The combination lock on my suitcase has no place to insert a key. So it's still a mystery... unless I really forgot to lock it the last time i closed it. Anyway, thanks for your input. | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 11:35 | comment | added | Relaxed | @aditsu I am not sure all the details are entirely public, apparently there are several techniques depending on the lock. I don't think they ever actually try the combinations. For Travel Sentry locks (the ones with the logo), there is a code on the lock that indicates which tool should be used and then you can find videos showing a strangely shaped “master key”. But yours might be different for all I know. | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 11:19 | comment | added | aditsu quit because SE is EVIL | I can't see any indication that this lock is special in any way. But whether or not it is, how do they actually open it? Do they have a special way to read the combination? Or some kind of device that automatically tries all combinations? | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 10:29 | history | edited | Relaxed | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Dec 1, 2014 at 10:24 | history | edited | Relaxed | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Dec 1, 2014 at 10:24 | comment | added | Relaxed | @adtisu Both variants exist (see also the Wikipedia article), the picture is there to show the diamond logo, nothing more. | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 10:21 | comment | added | aditsu quit because SE is EVIL | It's definitely not that kind of lock that's separate from the suitcase. I added a picture. | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 9:48 | history | edited | Relaxed | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Dec 1, 2014 at 9:40 | history | edited | Relaxed | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Dec 1, 2014 at 9:34 | comment | added | Nean Der Thal | I confirm the last sentence about breaking the lock, personal experience. | |
| Dec 1, 2014 at 9:30 | history | answered | Relaxed | CC BY-SA 3.0 |