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Most Hotel Safes Have a Hidden Lock That’s Easy to Break Into


A hotel room safe is designed to keep valuables like your passport or cash locked away while you’re traveling. But as it turns out, most hotel room safes are relatively easy to break into, so you might want to think twice about where you stash your most valuable items.

This post is part of our Evil Week series at Lifehacker, where we look at the dark side of getting things done. Sometimes evil is justified, and other times, knowing evil means knowing how to beat it. Want more? Check out our evil week tag page.

We’ve talked about how easy it is to crack almost any electronic safe, and cyber security expert Jim Stickley demonstrates another method that shows just how easy it is, using a paperclip and a pocketknife. He first removes a nameplate on the safe to reveal a hidden lock. Then, using a tool on his pocketknife and a bent paperclip, he easily unlocks the safe.

Stickley told the Huffington Post:

People often think the room itself is secure. They know that the cleaning crew may have access, but think that is a low risk especially if they use the hotel room safe. The reality is that gaining access to a person’s hotel room is not difficult.

If you’re thinking of storing your valuables in your hotel, keep in mind they have limited liability, and with the right set of simple tools, it’s easy enough for anyone to crack the lock. Check out the full post at the link below.

How secure is your hotel safe? | Jim Stickley via Huffington Post