xbenedict

When you're within a few feet of BitLock, the Bluetooth link senses your iOS or Android smartphone and lets you unlock your bike with the push of a button.

To lock it, you press the button again.

That's easy enough, but BitLock's networking capabilities make it interesting.

https://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-...news&tag=title

vins0010

Depends on how secure it is...and how long the battery in the lock lasts...and if it'll all work in the rain and MN -20 F winters...and how good I am at keeping my iPhone charged. The lock itself looks less robust than my current U-lock. I tend to think of this sort of thing as a solution to a problem that didn't exist. I've been more inconvenienced at having to carry a heavy lock than locking/unlocking it. If the had these locks stationed at bike racks across where you'd then park your bike and rent/use a specific one for the duration of your parking...then you wouldn't have to lug a lock everywhere, then I'd get interested.

Darth Lefty 

I need this even less than a fridge that keeps inventory.

cyclist2000

integrated timer locks in bike racks sounds like a good idea. kinda like a renting a video you pay for how long you keep the bike in the rack and pay with a credit card when you leave.

ThermionicScott 

I like the idea of removing the physical interface to the lock since it can be a weakness. Dig the username, too, xbenedict.

bici_mania

Very, very bad idea.

Bluetooth is very hack-able.

spinnaker

What about moronic idea for this reason alone.

"you won't be able to unlock your bike -- unless you can borrow someone else's phone, install the app, and unlock it with that."

I would want a manual key override. I am not going to trust unlocking my bike to technology and/or the skill of a programmer. And I am a programmer.

daihard 

Bluetooth itself may be, but what if the app sends a unique, encrypted signal to the lock each time? Just snooping the network won't give you any useful information to unlock the lock in that case, will it?

bici_mania

Reading what they say on the website, it is more secure than a bank. That seems like a ridiculous claim. The truth is nothing wireless is truly secure. Banks don't use wireless for anything that involves money, if at all. When a company makes ridiculous claims like that I can only wonder what else is nonsense.

Bluetooth and encryption hacking information and tools are available in abundance on the web. A skilled hacker with a laptop with a decent processor and Bluetooth can/will hack it in short order.

What I see is a different kind of vulnerability that will make my bike a target and will enable the thief to bust the lock in an inconspicuous way. All this for a $140? Not for me.

daihard 

Sure, nothing on the wireless network is completely secure. That's why there are techniques to make it very hard, if not completely impossible, to crack (i.e. not hack) user credentials easily.

Encryption itself may be relatively easier to crack, but you can combine encryption with salt in order to make it extremely painful to crack stolen information. I don't know if BitLock does that at all, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did, given the price tag.

Retro Grouch 

To market a new product successfully, it has to equal the state of the art in every category and exceed it on one area.

If you could eliminate the need to carry a heavy lock with you or if you could make a lock that's harder to cut or break you might have a hit. An electronic key just looks like cake decoration to me.

BlazingPedals

You mean you have an old-fashioned refrigerator that doesn't automatically throw out expired lettuce?

bici_mania

This seems like a contradiction but okay, but I am not buying it.

A bike lock key is a small thing and can be easily secured in a number of ways. I will keep my keys, my cash and my bike.

Looigi

Just because you can receive signal doesn't mean you know what it means or can put it to use. That's what encryption is all about.

ThermionicScott 

At least for bike parts, I'm not so sure that the gray part is always necessary. Aren't we always griping about some compromise that's made when a part is innovated?

daihard 

Exactly. I agree with bici_mania that there are tools available to crack encrypted data in general. But there are also ways to make it very hard and painful to do so.

To me, it all comes down to how much the potential thief wants to steal your bike (or anything, for that matter). If they see enough value in the target bike, he'll bring in a car jack or a bolt cutter or whatever hardware he needs to break the lock. No need to decrypt the stolen password.

memebag

I've worked in the encryption software world a bit, and there's no reason to assume this device could be cracked. There are well known algorithms that the NSA can't decipher. Nobody sniffing your Bluetooth packet can crack them.

That said, I dislike proximity security. If I'm inside the store on the other side of the wall from my bike, I don't want a random thief to be allowed to push the button and take the bike.

spinnaker

I don't know the algorithm they are using but it should be fairly unhackable if done correctly. Device could have a real time clock that generates a unlock key based on the time and the device id. The cell phone would know the device id and run the same algorithm. The key would be transmitted to the lock along with a password. The key is only valid for a short period si even if someone could hack in and steal the key and the password, the key would never be valid again.

In order for the hacker to unlock the lock, he would need to know the device id, password and encryption algorithm used.

But this is still a ridiculous prodduct. A solution looking for a problem.

Rootman

No thanks, another gadget to put a battery in, track charge and replace / charge. I would also assume that there is some sort of backup key that would have to be carried in case of a power / electronic failure too, so why not just carry the key and do away with the electronic gizmo part?

Retro Grouch 

Or have a big bolt cutter.

Looigi

AFAIK, nobody is routinely cracking the keyless entry and ignition systems in cars, are they?

Tel0004

This is what I was going to say. They now have cars you can lock and unlock with your cell phone, and they are very secure, so if this was done right, I don't see a problem with it.

Its just not something I have a need for, so I'll stick to a traditional U lock and key.

erig007

Like anything else the lock is made of programs and physical components which means that like anything else there are weaknesses and not one approach to find them. cf: Defcon.
Having heard all the horror stories about fingerprint scanners, encryption software, wireless systems... where weaknesses were found i'm pretty sure that a thief that train on thousand bikes will learn soon enough which ways work best on this one.
This system should be added to a classic mechanical lock, in order to create some redundancy which would increase security, not replace a current locking mechanism by something in some way less secure.

The way it is now...not for me.

rebel1916

OP - retrogrouch, or big giant retrogrouch?

xbenedict

Really? I work in tech. That's why I know what a terrible idea this is.

I don't think tech makes things better every single time. That doesn't make me a Luddite. It makes me a pragmatist.