The real Jon Huntsman was another duped target, when Linton wrote to him as Eric Trump, suggesting that Donald Trump do a Putinesque topless horseback photo shoot. We can only hope that Linton's prank has brought attention to the important subject of government cybersecurity, and that "but their emails" becomes the single issue driving the electorate's decision come 2020.
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A Lockpicker Found Major Flaws In "High-Security" Locks
By 2004, lock breaker Marc Weber Tobias had become an expert in "bumping," a technique wherein one uses a file and hammer to easily pop the sort of locks that most people use to secure their bikes, gym lockers, and, uh, homes. Growing knowledge of the technique caused the media to scaremonger about a coming crimepocalypse, and Tobias was interviewed by dozens of local news outlets. Also interviewed was Clyde Roberson, a representative of Medeco, who saw a marketing opportunity.
Medeco is ostensibly the Rolls Royce of locks. Their clients include the Department of Defense, the White House, the United Nations, and the British Royal Family, all because their products are considered "high-security" -- which technically only means their locks take at least 10 minutes to crack. No lock is unsolvable, but by the time you've spent 10 minutes fiddling with one in the Pentagon, someone is hopefully going to notice you and arrest your fiddly ass.
Anyway, Medeco used these fears of a coming crime dystopia to advertise their locks as "bump-proof," even going so far as to start trademarking the term. This alarmed Tobias, who along with his Venezuelan colleague, uh, Tobias Bluzmanis, studied Medeco locks until they could open them in about a minute. They cracked one in eight seconds. Some lock companies improve and replace their products in response to such findings, but when they sent their results to Roberson, he began accusing the Tobiases of being liars and extortionists.
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