Originally published at: Watch: bizarre attempt to break into hotel room with wire contraption foiled | Boing Boing
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It’s a commercially available lever-handled lock bypass tool. If there’s enough room under the door (normally a maximum 3/4" gap per building codes), it’s pretty easy to open a door with this. The formed steel rod guides the cord to engage the lever, then you pull the cord and the latch and deadbolt are retracted so you just push the door open.
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“Lockpicking Lawyer Charged In Hotel Break-in Attempt”
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Nah, he would have actually gone for the lock, rather than try to bypass it with this tool.
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Well that’s a fucking nightmare.
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Deviant Ollam recently shared his solution for this: roll up a towel and stuff it in the handle. Foils the under-door tool quite nicely.
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Wrong again, he would’ve just looked at it sternly.
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This sounds more like a Deviant Ollam thing vs Lock Picking Lawyer. He specializes in physical penetration security testing. So many doors can be defeated with plastic shims or metal hooks. I found our our office door could be opened with a screw driver or knife, because it’s not hung well enough that it has a wide gap and you can trip the latch bolt.
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The defense respectfully notes the absurdity of an LPL break-in ‘attempt’; and further observes that the door was not opened, re-locked, and then opened again so that observers could see that it was not a fluke.
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Exactly. Here’s Deviant Ollam demonstrating this specific tool for the Lockpicking Lawyer.
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Tie a taut rope (or bandana or towel or…) from the door handle to the security latch above it. That will prevent the door handle from being pulled down by the intrusion device.
For extra effect, add a motion sensor tied to a small device that plays a recording of a shotgun being racked.
P.S. Make sure you put out the Do Not Disturb sign, lest you scare the bejesus out of housekeeping.
A directory of mostly wonderful things and also this.
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We learned our magnet-locked office doors (always set in lock mode) were pathetically easy to trick to unlock. A flashlight beam, or piece of paper on the floor moved within the ceiling sensor area unlocked it in a jiffy.
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So, only good when you’re inside the room, not when you leave? 
The security folks need to work on this problem.
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The ones with the motion sensor if you’re going out?
Yeah, you can use upside down canned air to create a mist that will activate a lot of them too.
His hour or so long talks he has given on his youtube channel have some super interesting info on how they get into places they shouldn’t be. A lot of it is social engineering too. With the right look, like an elevator repair person, you can get into a lot of places. And with fire keys, you can control the elevators. And once you have that you can then defeat the locks to the server rooms, etc.
One place was undergoing construction, that they got in with bright orange vests and were literally sawing and cutting on a door, saying they were there to replace it.
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If you want the solution for when you leave, you’ll have to pay me for it 
There should be no problem closing the door with a towel in place. Even the rope would usually work since the inside handle typically doesn’t move when entering from the outside.
I’ve soured on those lever style handles. Unless you or your guests have very low grip strength, a normal ball style handle feels and works better. And it is not vulnerable to this attack.
True, but now you’re running afoul of disability access laws, possibly? 
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