Five Reasons to Choose a Mechanical Dial Lock for Your Safe Rather than a High-Tech Lock

When buying a home or business safe, you have a choice between an old-fashioned safe with a mechanical dial lock or a high-tech safe. While both offer security, high-tech locks can be vulnerable to hackers.

Trying to decide between a high-tech lock and an old fashioned one? Here are five reasons you should stick with the tried-and-true mechanical dial safes:

1. A bit of code and a USB-stick can disrupt some high-tech safes

Some of the most complex safes on the market are tied to software that tracks deposits as they are added to the safe. Typically used for businesses, these safes even send their banks advanced notices of impending deposits. However, hackers have found ways to disrupt these high-tech features.

Armed with a bit of code and a USB-stick, hackers only need a second to slip their sticks into the USB-port. It erases data and can open the safe's drawers -- worst of all, as the data is erased, business owners may not even know the money was ever deposited or stolen. If these same businesses owners had a mechanical dial safe, they would lose the convenience of digital money counting and other amenities, but their safes would be virtually impenetrable.

2. Fabricated fingerprints are a looming threat

Biometric authentication is considered to be incredibly safe, but unfortunately, even that is not foolproof. Hackers have discovered a way to mimic or clone fingerprints, and the practice of stealing fingerprints from mobile phones is becoming more widespread.

These tech developments threaten the integrity of biometric safes, and although there are not currently any reports of biometric safes being opened with fake fingerprints, cautious shoppers may want to consider more conventional options like mechanical dials.

3. Smart homes and smart safes can be vulnerable to remote hacks

Smart homes feature wi-fi enabled appliances from alarm clocks, to fridges, to coffee makers, to safes. You can control everything in these homes remotely, and since it is all synced, when you hit snooze on your alarm, it simultaneously tells your coffee pot to make coffee five minutes later.  

Unfortunately, smart homes are not impervious to attacks. Hackers who figure out how to penetrate the system can turn off your heater to burst your pipes and remotely vandalise your home, or they can open your safe remotely, timing it perfectly for a thief near the house to slip in and out in a matter of minutes.

Keeping your safe offline prevents you from facing this threat.

4. Bouncing can open some digital safes

People who have accidentally locked their digital safes can use a technique called bouncing to open it. Unfortunately, however, thieves or hackers can also use bouncing to open digital safes, and the technique takes just a couple of seconds to complete. It isn't possible to bounce open a mechanical dial safe.

5. Mechanical dial locks can last a lifetime

In addition to resisting all of the hacks listed above, mechanical dial locks are strong, and they can often come with lifetime guarantees. With an old fashioned safe, as long as it's impossible to move, the locks are strong and the metal is thick, they are practically impenetrable. If you want the ultimate level of safety to last you a lifetime, opt for a mechanical dial lock rather than the high-tech alternatives.

For more information on the most secure type of lock for your valuables, contact a company like Central Coast Locksmiths.