toughbooks with a key and physical lock?

I think the toughbook will be 100% complete with a key and physical lock mechanism for openning the screen.

 

The 600MHz CF-28's had a key. It prevents the laptop from turning on, and the battery bay from opening. It's a really elaborate key that was really cool looking. Very high tech key actually, almost impossible to reproduce.

Problem was, a screwdriver would bypass it's security, so it only kept out people who didn't want to turn it on. They never put a key on them again.

It'd be neat to have a screen locking key, but after that one failure, I don't know if they will try it again soon.

 

o wow really that had that. yea a key mechanism to turn the system on will be very cool indeed.

 

Ya, and the keys themselves cost over $100 each as I recall. Set a password on your desktop, or if your really paranoid, set a BIOS one. Just don't forget it!!

 

Yeah... When I first started with Toughbooks years ago I used to want the locking one... Or at least the mechanism... Until I found that you can defeat it in about 10 seconds if you know what you are doing... And about 5 minutes if you don't. But as Doobi said, the keys are VERY expensive IF you can find them! They aren't normal keys... They are called copy-proof keys and are specifically Mul-T-Lock keys. I have several locks with no keys but they are pretty worthless without keys and I think you must have the specific key number for them to make one... Is not like the old tumbler type where you can use bluing paste to find out where to file the key to make it fit into the tumblers.

The best security for your laptop (Aside from a semi-automatic pistol) is a strong password for BIOS, Hard Drive and Boot-Up.

 

but what about the physical lock to stop the lid from being cranked open to begin with, may add an extra level of security whatever that is worth.

 

The CF-28 Mk1 used a bilateral axial tumbler lockset; virtually impossible to pick or smith a replacement in the field. As of a year ago, Panasonic had a half-dozen different stock numbers left at $50 ea plush S/H; of course, NOT the one for MY laptop, and truth told, not reasonable to spend on a machine designed for Win2000.

My excitement to fix this soon died after I found this out; plus, like you, I was dreadfully disappointed to find it only disabled the power button & slightly hindered access to the battery compartment, rather than locking the lid closed as I had expected. All in all it seemed totally senseless to include such a sophisticated lock & make it SO USELESS.

I seriously looked into modding the case to make a lid lock possible, but soon found I'd have to fab a new lid latch and there really is not adequate space in that area of the chassis for anything beefy enough to NOT be as useless as the battery door lock.

mnem
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick you friend's ToughBook!

 

This is very true but if it could be figured out the battery door should be converted over to something like what the hard drive door on a cf29 is to where it would be very difficult to get into without the lid being open. These are all dreams and really don't have much use as a person who owns a toughbook doesn't let it out of their sight for too long. It is really a love affair

Dan

 

First, let me say hello to everyone!! GREAT group here. I believe in being thourough so I have been reading here for the past 4 weeks to 'catch-up' before I set-off a 'we already discussed that' landmine.

Second, TB, I have a close friend who is a locksmith, do you still have one or two of the locksets? or just the tumblers actually, and I will run it by him. I know as a licensed locksmith he can order a lot of 'no-duplication' keys. You can e-mail me at NKrebs AT StrathamFire DOT org or K1SFD AT arrl DOT net. I plan on introducing myself a little later, but I still have more reading to do

Also, maybe you can help me as I think I saw you were one of the customizers that Duracoated the Toughbooks. I haven't found a 'how-to' or 'suggestions on' prep and painting these. Any help/assistance you could provide would be GREAT.

A Quick blurb on me- I have been using toughbooks for almost 5 years now. I am a Volunteer FF/EMT-I for the local FD as well as the Comm Officer for Emergency Management and I am on the Technology Commitee for both. Five years ago we bought three brand new CF-29 Touchcreen Latops. Two and 1/2 for the FD and 1/2 for EM (Sounds funny, but I promise no cutting was involved - The one is in the Second Due Engine and gets pulled when needed for EM) And when it gets pulled it goes to---you guessed it - ME Well, until 5 months ago anyway, the Director decided it should be on HIS desk... I mean I'm only third down the ladder geeesh! and since we have gotten a new $6M Fire/EM building, $275K Ambulance, and $370K E-One Fire Engine in the past two years, and the $400K next year for a new Tanker -- no way I'm gettin a new one frm the town.

So, I went out and got my own, besides now I can use it at home more as well as for HAM radio whenevr I want wthout begging the Fire Cheif and EM Director. So, I got a CF-29 Touch with Sprint WWAN on fleabay for $400 incl s&H&Ins, a factory loaded CF-28 for $195 incl S&H&Ins and.... Just won my baby a CF-18DHAMBKM ULV 1.1Ghz, 768Mb, 40Gb, WWAN, WLAN, Bluetooth for $600 S&H&Ins. Best part is it is 90% new(10% used). I got it from a Medic in florida who used it for classes and now that he's in the field they bought him a new CF-19. The thing is a creame puff!! I also have a lead on 10 more CF-29s for me to Reman for local Fire/Rescue/EM/Police use. The Police Sgt just finally bought on his own)a CF-28 (Waaaaay beat-up and stripped) for $600 because he was sick of me having to tell him his 1yr was up on the dell and it was time to throw it away again (The PD has gone through 19 latops in 2ys--and they only have 7 FT and 5 PT officers). The last one he sent back dell said the damage was so severe it had to be negect not normal use - even for police work! they actually refunded the cost of the laptop & service contract instead of replacng it! hehe I love toughbook!

So, here is to meeting/talking to you all soon!!

Beau K1SFD

 

Beau... I think it is safe to say.... You have the disease! :laugh:

Yes... I have several locks left... I think. I was packing up all my CF-28 laptops, parts and accessories to sell on ebay. Probably 200 pounds of LCDs, Bodys, Screws, Etc. But I think I have 2-3 locks in there somewhere.

I don't paint laptops unless a customers requests it and then I totally strip them and take them to an autobody shop to have them painted per customer specs. Personally... I'd rather have a scratched up Toughbook than a painted one that is going to look even worse in short order. Of course that is just my opinion. Plus.. If you use your laptop outside or in the car... Any dark color will soak up heat... The enemy of a laptop that has no fan to cool it!

We don't flame around here for asking questions. The only time someone gets the "Use the search button" answer is when they ask a question that could be answered if they would have read the READ ME FIRST stickies on the top of the forum... Like, "How do I add GPS to my CF-28?" Don't worry... As a ham... You are probably more knowledgeable than a lot of us around here...

 

Thank you ALL for making a forum nooobi feel right at home. Due to me being a new member, I cannot PM anyone yet, but just you wait! hehee

So, TB.. If you can drop me a note about the locks as well as what you have for 28 stuff (Well, maybe not ALL of it, I have to be able to read it without wondering if I can mortgage the house!). Also, since you brought up parts, and I promise I wouldn't do this if I could PM, I have a few small things I need for my 29 (BIGGEST THING - I have a backlighted @#$#% rubber keyboard that I want to replace with Chicklet style - prefer get one with backlight, Power/USB/Modem-Lan inner seal & Newer looking/working outer covers to match (only missing power, but ifn I'mma gonna do one...., HDD Hinge that's NOT bent, GPS Antenna bump out for WWAN sled, and any & ALL advice on installing the EM408 & Bluetooth to my Sprint WWAN - or a variation of GPS to SLED and BT somewhere else internal)

I look forward to hanging around here for a LONG while, so hopefully ya'll decide to like me (I'm still keeping an eye on the dwagon!! - where did I put that darn broad sword again?!?!?! )

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

Beau, Yes the diease is spreading quickly in your brain! However, this is a good disease to have! Expensive, but good.

This place is pretty laid back, you won't find the usual ****head that pops in here and trys to stir things up. We just try to help each other out with there addictions. Someone is always trying to mod this or mod that, add this or that,etc.

Welcome to the ToughBook World

Oh, BTW, the only way those locks can get unlocked is to get in touch with MultiLock. This is what kind of makes them special. You CANNOT pick these locks. Have them on every exterior door on my house.

 

Hmmm.... Me thinks that Toyo has a small fortune and a lot of cool stuff he is guarding! <Makes note to get address and stop by>

Beau...

I'll be more than happy to send you one of the locks to play around with... But Toyo is right... More than likely when you give it to your locksmith friend... He'll say, "OH... It's one of THOSE type locks!"... And you'll have a cool looking paperweight. It will still function as a switch and may look cool when installed. But it is about as useful as putting a snooze button on a smoke alarm. It must have seemed like a good idea at the time... But easily overcome in reality.

The other stuff you need... I'd talk to Psych)Thrasher about the keyboard. (And maybe the other parts?) He may be able to hook you up... Either that or ebay. They sure type easier than the rubber ones... But you can't beat a rubber one for coping with spills, grease and solvents. You can always buy parts from heartlandsi.com... You have to call them with the part number and the model number of your laptop. They kill you on shipping which is why I either wait until I need a lot of parts... Or we get into a group buy on the forum.

Teo (Ohlip) did a write-up about adding the Em408 to a sled with a modem. He and Onirikkiss did a thread about adding BT to CN47 (I think that's the connector) under the keyboard. The neat thing about that is that you can lay the USB BT under the keyboard trim and it gets MUCH better range than having it buried in the body. The problems with both (BT I know but not sure about the GPS-sled hack) are that the GPS and BT stay on all the time unless you either add a switch to the outside of the laptop (Gross and cuts back on invincibility) or and internal circuit that is controlled by software. I've seen several ways to control internal stuff via software or keyboard commands but have never built one myself. I need to however. It could be as easy as a pressure/momentary switch that touches the LCD frame bezel when the top is closed. Or an added magnetic switch... Lots of ways to approach it.

But as a ham I know you are used to tinkering with things... So you should fit right in around here...

 

In general, once someone else has your laptop in their possession, it's fairly easy to circumvent any kind of protection you have on the device. Having a lid lock sounds interesting, but I can't really think of a situation where it would be useful. It might prevent a little kid from scratching the LCD, but any
half-serious criminal is going to just take the whole laptop and deal with the lock later.

What works better is software encryption and some way of locking the entire laptop down ala kensington laptop lock.

The general idea is to prevent anyone from taking your laptop from you, everything else is better handled in software.

 

Ya... For security (physical) I have one of the MicroSaver locks, but they can still be fairly easily defeated in an area where the person can have 2 minutes alone with it. As with most cables, the end that wraps around a 'secure' opject is the weak link. I actually spent extra on my cable since it was made with a 'Cut Resistant' center core. It's the Kensington 'Microsaver' This is a good desciption of it, but I got it through my parts & re-seller channels for about $25 incl s&h. Before you ask, they have been unable to get more at that price for a couple months now. It's the "Super-strong, steel composite cable with carbon tempered steel core" part that makes it worth it. At the FD we tested these cables as well as the Targus Defcon CL, and the Targus Defcon Serial/Video port style. Here is where the 'Extra' money comes is.

We tested these for Durability, Ease of application/removal & Physical Security. For physical security we used a brand new sharp pair of handheld cable cutters, handheld bolt cutters (only a little bigger than cable cutters), and finally our full size bolt cutters. (ALL of these are kept 'sharp' incase of need for technical rescue/extrication) Here is what we found:

MicroSaver:
Handheld Cable Cutters: Cut outer Cable - Failed to cut or touch Center Core
Handheld Bolt Cutters: Cut outer cable - marred & flattened Center Core
Full Size Bolt Cutters: Cut whole cable in 1/2 with moderate to heavy effort

Pros: Extremely well built to withstand tampering, the 'Lock Slot' on the 'plastic' based computers was more likely to fail prior to the locking system. The lock system is the most secure of the ones we tested especially when combined with a CF-29 base! The bolt lock style key systems are very difficult to tamper with. Loop based end is well designed to keep it from failing first

Cons: Weight is about 50% more than the Targus models. Also, the price on these systems make it very expensive for large scale implementation, then of course if you have to replace 3 or 4 laptops a year due to theft, they start looking a lot cheaper!! Key based system means you have to remember to have the key with you when you want to apply/remove the cable. (I had to point out the 'Flaw' in the FDs plan to keep a Key in each vehicle. They need to be 'easily' removed in case they are needed for Incident Command, but leaving a Key 3 feet from the lock, and fully accessable, is just as bad as not locking them down at all - might as well save the cost of the cable. So, the 'Key' was added to the Knox box in each rig (This is a metal box, like a mini safe, that sits on the dash of the vehicle and is in a constantly locked state. For the box to be opened, you have to contact dispatch via radio and request they ''unlock'' the box. They send a DTMF code -phone like sounds- over the channel and the box unlocks for 10 seconds, then relocks if you haven't opened the front.) We utilize non-locking bases at this time since they were an extra $800 option per truck.

Targus CL:
Handheld Cable Cutters: Cut outer cable - marred & flattened Center Core
Handheld Bolt Cutters: Cut outer cable - Cut through Center Core with a lot of effort
Full Size Bolt Cutters: Cut outer cable - cut core with little effort

Pros: Less expensive, and is simple to apply/remove. While the cable can be defeated your gonna stick out like a sore thumb walking into starbucks with a set of bolt cutters!! Lighter and easy to pack along with p/s. The lock that attaches to the base is well designed and locks securly, and there is NO KEY to misplace. Just a combo to forget... were did I park the Fire Truck again

Cons: Can be defeated with a little work, so shouldn't be used in an area where they thief can have 10 minutes of uninterupted handy time with your investment. Before you say it, yes I see it all the time around here. People going to the local internet cafe, sitting in the far back, and then go to the bathroom for 5 minues and don't lock down thier property! Some people need a good smack at times!! Like the last quote of my signature says.....

Targus Serial/Video:
Handheld Cable Cutters: Cut outer cable - marred & flattened Center Core
Handheld Bolt Cutters: Cut outer cable - Cut through Center Core with a lot of effort
Full Size Bolt Cutters: Cut outer cable - cut core with little effort

Pros: The same as the other Targus cable, but is a little better for securing a plastic base style laptop. With the Video / Serial pass-through, you don't loose any functionality.

Cons: Again, the same as the other Targus cable, however; if someone gets a little 'overzealous' trying to steal the computer they can do a lot of damage to your external ports. I've serviced two in the last year, one I had to replace the MB, the other - they settled to have the external plug removed.

As far as software protection of your laptop, the only true way of knowing you *MIGHT* get it back is the BIOS style tracking systems. As far as protecting your data in the event your laptop is stolen, I use encryption software. While I dont encrypt my whole hard drive (who here really cares if the theif gets a service manual for thier laptop in .pdf form), I do keep everything under 'My Documents' as well as the 'Emergency Management' folder off of my root drive locked down with AES encryption. I have a custom program that I created to store and recall town resident phone numbers, address, and any special needs they would have in the event of an emergecy. It wouldn't be too cool for the thief to get EVERYONEs phone number & address (UNLISTED or not). We had considered using a USB encryption key for all of the Toughbooks, but the likelyhood of loosing a USB device whilst responding to a call is too high, so it's encrypted with a simple method. Each user has a key that has to mach thier user account on the FD Network, if the proper key isn't inputted, access is denied. After 5 attempts the user is logged out of the computer and the account is locked until reviewed by an Admin (My best friend & I are the FD/EM Admins - He's also a Captain). He and I designed the system set-up and it is able to have its 'Security Severity' moved either way.

So, now that I have written yet ANOTHER book for a simple post, I'll stop rambling before I have to find a publisher!

Beau

 

Even the best of locks just keeps an honest person honest... If someone wants something of yours bad enough... I don't care what it is... They can get it.

 

One quick (I Promise) other thing. When I was teaching computer/network security at the college the first thing I told my students was that I know how to perfectly secure and protect thier computer and data. 1)Unplug the Network Cable, 2) Unplug the Power and other peripheral devices. 3) Place your computer into a Wells Fargo safe, 4) Close the door, 5) Loose the key and/or forget the combination, 6) Electrically charge the exterior of the safe.

I told them that each step away from this set-up is a step closer to the loss of data/physical property. I actually had a student as me how difficult it would be to keep it running cool inside a safe!!

Again, please see quote#2 below!!!

Beau

 

thanks beau, that is a very informative post!!!

One thing I love about my toughbook is the carry handle. Makes it easy to take into the bathroom with me

I'll have to pick up one of those microsavers...