Locks and Security News: your weekly locks and security industry newsletter
17th April 2024 Issue no. 701

Your industry news - first

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The $300 lock you can break in seconds

The lock you see in the picture can be found in thousands of locations: hotels, banks, casinos, office buildings, airports. And, according to a class action lawsuit, it isn’t safe at all. Kaba-Ilco, the maker of the ubiquitous  Simplex series of push-button locks, is being sued for selling a defective product that can be broken into in seconds by an unskilled person wielding only a powerful magnet.

Virtually all of these locks, with the exception of Kaba’s Series 5000 model, are vulnerable, according to the complaint filed by the plaintiffs in this case. Kaba is one of the largest lock companies in the world and has likely sold millions of these incredibly popular Simplex mechanical push-button locks during the past thirty-five years. They sell for $300 to $400 each. Not cheap at all. If the company loses the case or settles, it could be on the hook for millions of dollars in liability claims.

9th February 2011