How To Break Into a Government Safe

[@ThioJoe]

Weird that they fill the cabinets with smoke 🤔

[@DeviantOllam]

Top Secret Smoke

[@frogz]

It's that old 1970s smoke, they didn't show the baggie in the vid

[@paperburn]

sweet.

[@auxchar]

@@DeviantOllam So that's where they're keeping the top secret magic smoke that they put in top secret government electronics

[@Hans-gb4mv]

It's just left over from back when you were allowed to smoke in the office.

[@Myekos]

Pretty cool, thanks for sharing! Didn't realize just how tough those government file cabinets actually are.

[@DeviantOllam]

Yeah.... And this is only a Class 6 container. A Class 5 container is much more ruggedized.

[@seanfager8063]

As someone who has opened them explosively, they ARE tough. Like, "how in Murphy did *that* not open it!?!" tough.

[@billstrebin4601]

I also like that they were designed that a new front can be put on and the safe recertified.

[@greedygolddigger3650]

@@DeviantOllam how many shekels does this channel get you, deviant of mossad????

[@imaginedauthority9455]

I spent years doing government asset disposal and management etc we were challenged to crack open a whole bunch of b class digital safe cabinets that had been long forgotten about. After one guy spent an hour and a half breaking one open with a sledgehammer and crowbar working on the lock, I got one look at the hinges and opened the next one in 5 seconds with a large flatblade screwdriver. Bomber locks, standard open ended cupboard hinges like you would find on any flatpack ikea cabinet.

[@allenshepard7992]

Never seen that before. What a difference a professional makes. Thanks for the "replaceable door heads" I was expecting to see a green "OPEN" magnet sticker on it once it was open. We had to indicate all that stuff for people in the room to see.

[@kstricl]

The commentary about making carbide last I find extremely useful - for my metal chopsaw. Not a locksmith, but now I know why I've been wrecking blades on my little Evolution saw.

[@GaryMarriott]

Thanks that was very fun, reminds me of that time when one of our senior staff decided to change their own combination on their main MOD certificate press, instead of letting a custodian do it. Obviously they managed to set it to an unknown number so needed it open destructively. Instead of the custodian going in from the front, he drilled four 6mm holes in the rear panel & using a steel nibbler, opened it up like a tin of spam in under 20m.

[@DeviantOllam]

Wow, that's quite a series of decisions that that person made 😂

[@nobody8717]

You could probably get a portable HEPA shop-vac or equivalent, and connect it to that box to evacuate/filter and keep your drill cooler so it lasts longer.

[@tech4pros1]

some kind of sliding partition that isolates the drilling bit from the drill motor portion, so the drill motor has a supply of cooling air and doesn't overheat, yet the swarf is contained. the addition of a hepa filtered vacuum with the suction hose at the bottom to evacuate the smoke and swarf into might be a solution for a very clean job.

[@shinjisan2015]

One of my regular electronic access guys I use has a battery powered "shop vac" for whenever he's soldering. About the size of a boom box with corrugated stretchy hose on it, not one of those garbage dust busters. So much better than isolating fire sensors.

[@sstorholm]

The 18 volt Bosch vacuum would be excellent for that, very portable as well!

[@jmr]

That's pretty cool how it contains most of the debris and smoke. I've seen a safe drilled but never like that!

[@DeviantOllam]

Yeah, this is a really well thought out design

[@jmr]

@@DeviantOllam Thanks for sharing!

[@SmallDisturbedChild]

When I was in college I had wanted to do physical security and physical security testing. Got talked out of it by a professor who thought the whole field was a joke, "who would honestly pay money to have someone try and get in to their building". To this day I'm still so mad at myself for being talked out of it. Now I just do App administration and ServiceNow development.

[@DEATHBYFIRE09]

The breadth of knowledge you must have over the years in so many disciplines - its crazy to see how many things you are knowledgeable about!

[@DeviantOllam]

Thanks! It comes with being old. ;-)

[@DEATHBYFIRE09]

@@DeviantOllam Ha! At least theres some perks to your body rebelling against you. Thanks for sharing all of this - it might be completely outside my wheelhouse, but its still fascinating to learn about.

[@chrism4008]

I like how, in part the "sensitive material" was a handgun case (being government I'd expect it to have a fully loaded gun in it as well 🤣🤣) its crazy how many of those they lose

[@Hans-gb4mv]

locked away for years, potentially decades. But I'm pretty sure the thing they are searching for was not in that cabinet.

[@91chevys10]

and not just "lose" to taliban, isis, & cartel members.

[@DeviantOllam]

that wasn't the sensitive materials (I blacked out the screen when the sensitive contents were being removed) but you're right... there was a Glock box in there. 😉👍

[@frogz]

no it wasnt, no one cares about the gLOCK box, it was really (censored)!!!! can you believe it???

[@TooLazyToFail]

There are a LOT of tiny Mom and Pop defense contracting companies with stuff on-site that has to go in GSA containers. I'm not surprised that they'd also keep valuables of a more personal nature inside. :)

[@Jaredshapiro1]

I'm glad that you mentioned that the difficulty of gaining access to the safe is far from the only security measure. There are so many other security measures that make gaining physical access to these safes extremely difficult without someone being notified.

[@ErdTirdMans]

I will always appreciate the following process of DO uploads: 1. DeviantOllam puts out a cool, informational, entertaining video 2. His history of uploads and appearances attracts a certain class of audience, who promptly discuss said thing in the comments section in an informative and positive way that is wholly unknown to other KZbin channels 3. DeviantOllam appears in many of the comment threads further elaborating or even LEARNING FROM THE COMMENTERS THEMSELVES 4. The virtuous cycle continues - New people, new ideas, new questions, new videos I'm curious to see whether this depreciates as your content reaches more people. I very dearly hope it continues this way

[@curtishoffmann6956]

That was a lot of fun to watch. The sliding clear panels are a genius move. I can see having a filtered vacuum fan to suck out the smoke a little faster, but I assume that's not a real issue normally.

[@dittilio]

Agreed, a small soldering extraction fan would do the trick I think.

[@wobblysauce]

And it doesn't need to be strong suction.

[@medivalone]

It would keep the smoke and such from getting to the safe contents as well

[@KurtRichterCISSP]

@@wobblysauce yeah, some battery operated dustbuster type portable would be more than enough

[@DanBowkley]

Makita makes a sweet little HEPA wet dry vacuum that'd be perfect for this role. 18v cordless too.

[@lightningdemolition1964]

I had a job like this a while ago but it was a lot easier. I had a couple dozen atm type devices that I had to pick up around the country and dispose of but they were all left locked and bolted to the floor. I had to figure out how to get them out and I got to keep the contents. They all had expensive components I got to resell. I laid them on their back and used a gas powered chop saw to cut through the whole half inch steel door The hinge opened and the bolts slid to the side. Made a huge amount of noise, dust and Sparks. Not a discrete job but cheap and relatively low skilled

[@DeviantOllam]

so glad that it worked well for you!

[@brandonsinclair261]

what was in them?

[@DeviantOllam]

@@brandonsinclair261 [REDACTED] 😉👍

[@brandonsinclair261]

@@DeviantOllam I love tiny slips of [REDACTED] in the morning.

[@Disktoaster]

Love that you not only know how to use the tool, you know how every part of the tool operates and its vulnerabilities. My boss tells me no one else has ever been able to use carbide bits (different tool than a holesaw) because they throw teeth every single cut; i show him my bit with tens of thousands of cuts on it and say "yeah, this is why i'm getting another raise next month." I can use the specialized tools for the job instead of a generic solution and get twice as much done in the same time without working any harder.

[@Kriss_L]

When I was stationed in the middle east, the command hired a local locksmith to "open" a couple of safes like the one in the video. The first day, they showed up with a couple of pry bars and chisels. It was the expected cluster, and they left with busted chisels and one side of the drawer face bent out. The finally came back a few weeks later. They used an angle grinder to cut the drawer face so that they could then cut the bolts. What they did not do was put anything on the carpet before they started, so the sparks caught the carpet on fire in our commander's office.

[@angrydragonslayer]

Sounds like the army

[@Kriss_L]

@@angrydragonslayer Navy

[@angrydragonslayer]

@@Kriss_L army but another 10% can swim and there's some more unsavoury rumours

[@clemdelaclem]

this is the most military day-to-day work thing I have ever read

[@EyeMWing]

Sounds like the kind of thing that could have been insourced to a fire team of miscreants with much more success.

[@LenKusov]

My dad worked around Norfolk for a lot of his past, the through-the-grapevine trick for this before they made dedicated drill rigs was to duct tape a moving blanket over the thing instead, locate the lugs with a few envelopes or soda-bottle shims to figure out where they were, then use a masonry blade on an angle grinder to get em through the drawer wings, or attack em as you did with the Hole Hawg. The shims were mostly because if one of these drawers ended up in an off-lease office building, it was no longer government owned, but because it was the Cold War era nobody wanted to publish the drill diagrams - you had to attack it cold. I got one of those older mechanical-style high-security locks to play with as a kid (same form factor as the new X-09 digital ones but 60's/70's era), never knew where it came from but I did actually manage to figure out the safecracker's trick for opening it - if you stuck it in the freezer or got it cold with air duster, the grease in the internal mechanism would thicken up enough that the false gates they installed to prevent the stethoscope trick from working wouldn't do their job, and the difference in the clicks on the correct numbers were much more audible. Combination on that one was 12-24-54, Laotian independence day, which now that I think about it, means that whoever that lock belonged to during Vietnam had a sense of humor.

[@soranuareane]

This was FASCINATING. Thank you! We love to see these real-world examples of your craft.

[@ericberry5976]

I worked in a factory and the drill set up for re drilling mounting holes for the molds in press was pretty similar actually

[@Alex-wr6pd]

Back on the list lol

[@JRSofty]

I remember using these drawers when I was in the Army. I had never thought about how those things were built, but I do remember that the dials were so smooth to turn. Cool video.

[@libertarian1637]

It is funny that it’s not just some agencies that “forget” what it has and what’s in or where some things are secured; time is just something that causes losses either of memory or records in general as others add to it and a specific reference can get misplaced or just overwhelmed in other info. Always interesting seeing safes and containers opened even if nothing is inside; security and auditing can be on another level depending on what it is, where it is, or what may be inside. Nice video.

[@fermitupoupon1754]

Given my experiences in the private sector, I'm not that surprised at all. I've had an employer who didn't renew my contract because they felt my wage demand was too high. Fair enough I suppose. So on my last work day they had me remove all of my accounts and stuff like that and clear out my desk, the regular stuff. What they forgot is that I was the only person who knew certain passwords and key codes. And because I was no longer supposed to know those, by their orders, I randomised them and didn't note them, after all I wasn't supposed to know them any more. Yeah it took them months to realise that they couldn't open the warehouse safe any more, as some smart arse decided to put the override key in the safe itself. I had always warned against this practice, but they didn't listen. Because I was the only one who knew the code to that safe, as I was responsible for that safe, I randomised the code and did not take notes of it. They had an intern spend weeks to try and brute force the code by manually trying every single one. I bet that poor kid has carpal tunnel issues now from rotating that knob a bazillion times. Same with online accounts, everything was tied to my account as well as that of the GM, but the GM had forgotten his passwords and I had either removed my access or randomised the password without saving it. Because I shouldn't be able to access corporate backend systems for a company I no longer work for. They spent thousands on tech support recovering all of their SaaS BS and things like SEO and SEA accounts. All I wanted was a market conforming salary, nothing ridiculous, but about thrice what they were paying me. It was the last time I made the mistake of accepting a low ball salary just to get a foot in the door.

[@daylen577]

Surely there has to be a way to automate that drill? Just an Arduino, a power meter (because power of that drill will go down as it cuts away and the pressure on the material drops, lowering the torque required), and some servo motors to crank that shaft, monitoring power draw and increasing the pressure on the drill as that drops, with a maximum increase per minute/second and stuff.

[@DeviantOllam]

That would be a pretty neat idea. :-)

[@frogz]

Easy enough to do, I can make it if you want

[@hannahranga]

I've used a rail drill that has a light to tell you if you're using too much/little/just enough pressure but it's pretty hit and miss. Our drill has a lever not a threaded rod which imho feels more natural but that might just be familiarity.

[@TheBeefSlayer]

Your training is impeccable.

[@danoconnell1833]

Really enjoyed this and would like to see more irl safe cracking.

[@karatos]

Ha, hilariously my boss also forgot the combination to a mounted lock box with, among other things, a glock inside. Another co-worker (his go-to minion, fiercely loyal and a total idiot) went to town with an angle grinder and spent a substantial amount of time cutting through the hinge edge, which did nothing, then cutting along another side (setting the contents on fire momentarily because he was casting the sparks into the box) and trying to pry it open with a variety of misused tools. I asked what the combination was to try it myself. He said the combination. I said are we sure? Co-worker (fiercely loyal) insisted that there is no way the boss would forget something like that and the lock must be broken somehow. I looked up the manual for the box. The combination quoted was one digit off what was listed as the default factory combination. Opened on the first try, smooth as butter. He still insists the lock was broken and I just got lucky. I have mounted the remains of the box in my office now as a sort of trophy. I am no Richard Feynman but I was quite pleased with myself. Almost as pleased as having my own lock box at home that literally no one has the key to and I pick it every time I need to open it. Not sure if that is smart but I think it will be hilarious for whomever handles my estate.

[@aracheldra8763]

As someone who's seen people handling an estate: be careful about leaving any of the relevant paperwork in that box. Whoever handles your estate may not appreciate it if you leave insurance or tax documents in there. Even worse if it's your will. I'm not saying don't do it --- probably your executor will be someone who appreciates your sense of humour, and they might be really glad of the memory of you! But remember they'll also have just lost someone close to them, and been hit with a huge amount of paperwork at the same time.

[@paulie120284]

Very cool! Very slick drill set up with the smoke containging aspect. Reminded me of a Concrete coring drill set up.

[@JustNilt]

I don't know if you've run across one of them but there are electronically controlled motors that seem ideal for this sort of work. The one I've actually seen is made by Nova and is for a woodworking lathe but I know they sell other ones. The NOVA 58000 Voyager drill press, for example, would likely work well. They're extremely precise at maintaining RPMs under loads. Anyhow, thanks for the video. Always love seeing this sort of thing.

[@rshollis]

I think this is one of the more interesting videos you've done. Just an everyday thing for you, but fascinating to us. Thanks a bunch!

[@skonkworkslocks2184]

Good/fast method for black labels/containers that don't need to be repaired or in situations where you can replace the drawer head. I'm partial to the 1/4" hole/drill and repair methods. Can be quite a process though depending on the model.

[@baylinkdashyt]

Definitely a fun Hands-On video, and my absolute favorite part of this - aside from how cool it is that this box exists - was the after shot stills, from inside the door.

[@sunshaker01]

I'm surprised no one has modified it to add a small vacuum cleaner with a good filter to deal with the smoke.

[@DeviantOllam]

I thought about that! I have a little shark vacuum that I keep with me to clean up on jobs after cutting and drilling. I bet I could get an additional piece of plexiglass and experiment with ways to attach a tube and filter to that tiny vacuum.

[@lathiat]

@@DeviantOllam one with a HEPA filter (various vacuums have them, not sure about the shark) should take care of most of the smoke.

[@MrHack4never]

@@DeviantOllam Since the vacuum cleaner could end up eating a small amount of shrapnel, should it perhaps be a metal shop vac?

[@jmr]

People sometimes put little air purifiers inside the boxes with 3D printers. One of those might handle the smoke. They come pretty small.

[@DeviantOllam]

@@jmr link? I'm trying to imagine what such a product would be.

[@brocktechnology]

I used to work in a truck shop where we had a "magdrill" which looked like bench top drill press but two guys could place it on a truck frame sideways or upside down and flip a switch and it stayed there. The screw on plate seems a bit crude buy comparison. Are safes made with non magnetic materials a thing?

[@DeviantOllam]

There are various magmount styles of drill rig, but they take up more real estate. Like, the footprint of that mounting plate would become much larger. And it's already kind of a tight fit to navigate around the drawer handle, the dial ring, etc. But it's a neat idea, I'll Grant you that.

[@laptop006]

Yeah, magdrill was my first thought, although you'd lose the nice enclosure

[@JustAnOldMan56]

I thought they were pretty cool. At least until someone pulled the plug powering the base and it came crashing down. Large flat surface needed so most round door chests were out. They do have their place.

[@krisreddish3066]

The old small super dark green military safes, they have odd knob turning directions but once you know it, I can and probably other folks too feel the set tabs as you rotate past them. So it takes about 1-3 tries. We used them for comsec too, I super hope we still do not use that lowest bidder crap. I am not a lock cracker, not a lock smith and have never failed to open one of them. Came in super handy after the service one time. My old auto shop boss forgot the combination and it was one of them old Army safes. It took me about 5 minutes to figure out his combo for him.

[@downwithxedia]

We had a tech pubs safe fail on the Submarine. They cut the front of the actuating handle off and drilled it out, then fished a wire in to pull all the locking bolts. It made a bit of a mess but nothing a few drop cloths didn't handle.

[@chrism4008]

When drilling metal, hole diameter,, rpms, and the speed of feed are crucial for making properly efficient cuts.

[@Gunbudder]

my old lab had a room next door that was converted from an exterior garage to a closed storage room. i got to watch them do the conversion over time to make sure it meets TEMPEST and all the other fun acronyms, and it was pretty cool. i lost my shortcut to get in and out of my lab though, which sucked lol. all because of ONE item that just HAD to be stored in that garage haha. it was quite a bit of labor for one dumb item

[@benoitdastous5293]

Guy’s. The thermal drill. Go get it.

[@mrthesquid]

Sadly the company I work for doesn't do much if any safe work so I doubt I'll get to explore safes, but it sure is fun knowing how building and office locks work and laughing at Maglocks. It has gotten to the point that no one in our company recomends maglocks and actively tries to disuade the customer from them as none of us want to deal with the complaint that the door keeps unlocking because they are constantly triggering the REX. Thanks for having such an informative channel Deviant! I have learned a lot by watching your lectures and thoroughly enjoy that you are willing to present this information freely and in an entertaining way.

[@PrinceAlberts]

This is a pretty cool way to do this. I’ve seen the locks drilled and the bolts cut with a torch, but this was a first for me. Thanks!

[@benargee]

Very cool but I figured you would have a quiet HEPA and charcoal vacuum for potential smoke and to help cool the drill motor

[@SyBernot]

I have not seen one of those bad boys in about 4 decades. They were ubiquitous on every ship and foreign base in the mid 80's. The armory version is a different model, these you could not store weapons or ammo in. Kinda curious now how you would get into one of those (hot metal and ammo seems kinda sketchy)

[@marcogenovesi8570]

you just need a long wire and a camera with this setup

[@SanchoPancho979]

Not really. As long as you dont also have stuff in there, which is sensitive to moisture. Thats a pretty shallow cut, so you could cool it using everything from a spray-bottle to a garden hose. As long as you dont soak the motor, that should work fine.

[@BandEAtoZ]

This same rigs cut through a Class 5 just as easily. In fact, the mounting plate is even sturdier than on the thinner Class 6.

[@TrevorDennis100]

You used the hole cutter dry. In an engineering context we would use some sort of lube like Rocol RTD. It's kinder to the hole saw and cuts faster. The downside is more smoke and the smell. If you want convenience, then CRC do CDT (cutting, drilling, tapping) lube in an aerosol.

[@jeffymooch]

Thanks for this. I appreciate the sharing of knowledge among trades. I'll never need it, but it sure is fun to be educated.

[@gaveintothedarkness]

Thanks, were all on a watch list now!

[@drewkennerly7029]

Have you ever tried annular cutter bits? When I used to do structural mods on cell towers annular bits chucked into mag drills was our go to when making big holes in thick steel. Low and slow with a foaming cutting fluid. Messy arrangement but relatively lightweight and portable. I did hate when I would accidentally hit the demagnetize switch instead of the off switch and catch the drill rig with my face while hanging in a harness but thems was some good times.

[@TRD_Mike]

Thanks for sharing, Dev! Fascinating stuff!

[@CKOD]

If you do want to move some air though there without letting the smoke free, something like a Festool CT-15 could be a good match for your use case. Small size, can carry one handed, has an adjustable speed, where it being on low wont be disruptively loud in an office environment. HEPA filter to take care of the smoke. Expensive for a shop vac, but ive had one run for hours at a time, doing chip-extraction on a small CNC without shitting the bed like some shop-vac brand units in an adjacent shop have. Plus you can use it to suck up the chips out of the drill frame after youre done.

[@o2wow]

You could connect a small HEPA-filtered shop vac to that box. The box would need a filtered air inlet to keep the mess inside when the vac is off.

[@BandEAtoZ]

Yup, I hook the filter shop vac up to mine.

[@FrankStajanoExplains]

That was fascinating to watch. Thanks for sharing it! Devious question: I note that in the video the filing cabinet appears to have been moved into the middle of the room, presumably to facilitate access for you, and this must have obviously been done before being able to open it. In other words, it wasn't bolted to the floor or the back wall. So how plausible would you rate the attack of somehow posing as tradesmen or office supply delivery guys in overalls, wrapping it a large cardboard box and taking it out on a sack trolley before anyone notices it's missing? (Perhaps even replacing it with a lookalike?) Are physical access control measures sufficiently tight that they'd stop a couple of crooked employees of a genuine office supply contractor who was installing filing cabinets in that facility? And obviously the related question: why then aren't these things bolted to the floor from the inside?

[@DeviantOllam]

A cool question! So, you're correct, they are not bolted to the floor. And they can't be. Class 5 and Class 6 filing cabinet containers (the ones in use today) do not have accommodation for holes in their enclosures. So mounting is not possible. The only exception there are Class 6-S containers, where "S" references "Shipboard" As you might imagine, if a Navy craft is facing 30' seas and pitching and rolling around the last thing they need in the radio room or wherever is to have a 600lb metal box smashing around the cabin like a pinball. So Shipboard containers have an extra base plate element welded to their bottom at the factory, which has mounting holes (and they are external holes... it's like a flange base.)

[@FrankStajanoExplains]

@@DeviantOllam Thanks for these extra details! But is there a structural reason why filing-cabinet-style safes could not have "internal" holes in the base and/or back, accessible only with drawers removed, that could be used to bolt them down? This would mean one could only unbolt them if able to open the safe.

[@DeviantOllam]

@@FrankStajanoExplains presumably, the rule is far easier to enforce if it's "no holes in the container for any reason" so that the DoD doesn't have to play 20 questions with every manufacturer who comes along

[@BrooksMoses]

@@FrankStajanoExplains I would also note that your setup implies that the bolt is probably responsible for keeping that hole filled, and bolts typically have two ends only one of which will be contained inside the safe. If someone can get access to an open bolt hole (or unscrew the unprotected end of the bolt and knock it in through the hole to open it), they can potentially get a borescope camera in through the hole and look at the safe's contents. Having a mounting hole accessible only from the inside means that installation becomes part of making the container secure -- and that probably means that any time you move the safe, you have to have someone like Deviant come out and certify the installation. Yes, one can set up things so that the bolt holes don't provide an ingress point, but I think that's where the point about making the rules simple comes into play. :)

[@FrankStajanoExplains]

@@BrooksMoses Thanks, that's an insightful explanation, and I now understand the rationale of the rule being "don't call it security grade X if it has holes, because we don't know how/where a J Random User will position it and if he doesn't make the holes inaccessible then the holes are a vulnerability". On the other hand security is risk management and if this were my own safe, that of my company, or that of a client I advised, I would consider the risk that someone walks away with it greater than the risk that someone puts a fiber-optics bendy camera in the hole---and if it came without holes I'd buy the necessary diamond bits and put the holes in myself (from the inside) so that I could bolt it to something structurally immovable! And when I say greater I mean _both_ more likely and more damaging. Circumstances vary of course, but that would be my broad assessment in absence of further details.

[@BandEAtoZ]

GSA security containers can be fun to poke, especially the bolts, but sometimes the locks can be a pain to neutralize.

[@waynenocton]

Super cool, I’d have to come up with some sort of heat exchanger for the sake of the drill.

[@endrawes0]

Thanks for sharing! Really fun to learn about!

[@kb3kyx]

​@DeviantOllam, Could you use the carbide Diablo or Milwaukee blades on a Sawzall to lope the ends of the bolts off? Instead of drilling through the front, I'm just curious; I know nothing of cracking safes, and I'm trying to learn.

[@Drunk-Mosquitos]

I have seen some messy (and loud) safe opening. That looks like a dream compared to other options.

[@chrissherer2047]

Looked like "Thief" w/ James Caan on a smaller scale. I install the IDS and other things. My brother-in-law was given a home safe and was told that he could keep anything that was in it. He spent a day with pry bars, chisels and hammers. I showed up and said, " Do you have a circular saw?" He got some state quarters in a few minutes.

[@creamysbrianna]

Do you have a distribution statement and approval letter from the DOD?

[@JakeThomasCreative]

Super cool! Thank you sir.

[@drrenard1277]

When I worked for NIST, I wondered, how do you open welded GSA safes? I have seen 2 welded GSA safes, one was being welded while I was there. There has to be a way to open one after welding and am wondering if you know how its done.

[@ColinRichardson]

Nice. Thank you for sharing

[@DeviantOllam]

Thanks for watching 😁

[@ColinRichardson]

@@DeviantOllam thank you for replying.

[@ztynzo0]

So this took less than 15 min total for cutting? We had to open a similar (maybe beefier drawer face) cabinet in 2000 and we used cutting discs, took 4+hrs, very loud and used 20+ cutting discs. Weren't in a very accessible location so we used what we had.

[@thetable123]

I'm amazed they gave you permission to film. Looks like a fun attack!

[@RobertShane83]

Thanks for sharing stuff like this. Locksmiths are like magicians never showing how the trick was done.

[@AquaTech225]

Dude got the most exciting fun gob on the planet. Aside from the safe opening. Just all of it. Awesome stuff, one could dream

[@Nurr0]

Better than a movie safe-cracking scene! They should just show the real process, that was fun.

[@robertboudrie2234]

How would this compare to an attach on the sides of the safe to open a channel the extended locking bolts could pull through. But, of course, there would be no replacement of the door head.

[@BandEAtoZ]

Because the economical / approved method involves replacing the drawer head we go in from the front. In accordance with the rules for govt security containers, anything other than following the rules will require a waiver (that you wont get) and the container will be scrapped. Yes, it is silly but thems the rules.

[@x9x9x9x9x9]

So cool. Every video I get more and more jealous of your job.

[@isaacplaysbass8568]

Absolutely fascinating, it felt a bit like First World Bank in Payday!

[@ghettogoblins8759]

Thanks for the tip! Totally not going for the last remaining smallpox viruses!

[@Blackwater_House]

I once worked in an Australian Army Orderly Room as a Civilian Special Officer of the Crown and a new Army Officer couldn’t Open the Office Safe. Although she knew the Combination, she couldn’t Open the Safe so she went to get help from a more Senior Officer. Although I wasn’t Officially Privy to the Combination I Opened the Safe during her absence. When the Two Officers returned and saw the Safe Open I had to explain that she had been unable to Open the Safe with the Combination because she was Left Handed. I also explained that I had Opened the Safe by reading the Combination off the Side Wall (My Side) of the Safe, but not to worry because I had already Reported Myself to the Defence Security Branch for My Breach of Protocol. When a Safe is delivered the Combination is written on the Side Wall of the Safe so that it can be Opened. Then the Combination is meant to be changed and its meant to be changed every 3 Months there after, but in all the Years the Safe had sat in that Orderly Room it had never been changed. When Security Branch Officers arrived they tore strips off the Army and Commended Me for Reporting the Security Breach. My Unauthorised Opening of the Safe was completely forgiven.

[@BeeWhere]

That is super cool, thank you for sharing

[@DeviantOllam]

You're very welcome! 👍

[@Katalci]

Ever read about Richard Feynman doing safecracking while working on the Manhattan Project?

[@DeviantOllam]

I have! :-)

[@aa777888]

Things left unsaid... 1. It's not a "safe", it a GSA security container. There is a world of difference. This was briefly mentioned but the word "safe" is used throughout the video. 2. Using something like a Stihl TS700 with the right blade will go through one of those like butter but the results will be uglier and less repairable. If the goal is merely speedy access to beat a guard force response that's the answer. As D.O. notes, these are designed to prevent surreptitious access only, not prevent access. 3. MBA USA sells everything needed to perform this work.

[@fuchs223]

Is that a Hamilton 2 drawer GSA class 6 with Kaba Mas X-10 gen2 electromagnetic mechanical lock????

[@KennyFlagg]

Glock blue label case 🧐 nice job, man!

[@Ye4rZero]

Damn you've done this before... hit the bolt with the mandrill right on and knew just when to back off the hole saw before going through the bolt.

[@scbtripwire]

So cool!

[@beanMosheen]

It's my drill in a box ooooooooh, my drill in a box girl. Honestly that would be clutch in a lot of spaces. Keeping arc flash glitter out of equipment would be one.

[@alexhamon9261]

Do a video on what might be one of the best government file cabinet or server room locks, the Kaba Mas X-10.

[@fatjaysgarage]

What is the thickness on the top? Would it be just as easy to cut a hole in the top?

[@jeffbrownstain]

Hell yeah, some Neal Caffery shizz. This what I've beon waiting for

[@OneOfDisease]

We had a contractor incorrectly install an X-10 on door and the ribbon cable to the dial got cut after a few uses. The locksmith did a number on that door trying to get in. He used a reverse hammer to pull the dial off then tried to drill into remainder of lock with zero success. After he left me and a friend charged the door at the same time and broke the frame of the door where the X-10 latched to it, luckily the door swung inwards.

[@BryanTorok]

That was really neat. Thanks for showing it to us. I'm curious, how much does a drill rig like that cost? I that available commercially or did you have to build it? Lastly, if you had to enter that non-destructively, could you have opened it?

[@Factoryseconds123]

Any particular hole saw recommendations? Looks like a Lenox in this video. And thoughts on diamond vs carbide for drilling steel?

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

I had one job like this, but they had the safe combination, but didn't know how to assemble and operate the computer in the safe. I was told that the Army Information Retrieval unit had spent 18 months on it with no success, but I suspect they didn't really bother. In any case, they brought me in to assemble the computer and try to get the custom software running so they could access the documents. The computer itself was an ancient Macintosh, so assembling the various parts wasn't a problem, and it booted right up. Some fairly basic forensics yielded the necessary passwords and I was able to launch the custom software and log in. The custodian wanted me to demonstrate that files could be retrieved, so I triple checked with him that he was signing off on me perhaps seeing the first page and he did. I pulled up a document at random, which turned out to be from 1948 or so and probably had long since been declassified, but it showed that the system was working and could retrieve documents. I wrote down the whole procedure for them and they escorted me out.

[@robertsneddon731]

A friend was given the job of reading some old 5.25" floppy discs held by a lawyer. That's it. No idea what kind of system the discs had been written on, what sort of file system, what sort of proprietary file formats they might contain, whether the discs were actually readable or not, what type of data was on them, no idea. He ended up designing and building a "universal" disc controller and acquiring a dozen or so assorted 5.25" floppy disc drives of different types to cycle the discs through to find one that matched the disc's original format (180k, 360k, 720k, 1.2MB, single-sided, double-sided etc.). He succeeded in at least getting some data off the discs and he got paid for his efforts but confidentiality meant he couldn't give us any more details. He now considers himself the world's foremost expert on 5.25" floppy disc formats from the 1980s.

[@USN_CB_not_BC]

I assume it was easier to defeat the bolts versus the lock itself? I guess in either case you replace the entire front face, so new lock and bolts?

[@camronbay1]

The locks are easy to defeat this is just another method.

[@DeviantOllam]

Absolutely correct. The lock itself (in addition to being an electromechanical safe dial with a very small drill point if you want to try to knock the fence off of the inner workings) is surrounded by a crazy hardened casement. The label was removed in much of the footage but I think at the very start you might be able to see that this is what is known as a "red label" safe. Those are an absolute pain to attack if you're trying to drill into the lock case. When the dod lock program upgraded all the standards in 1990 (that's when the red label units were introduced) they also mandated that drawer heads become removable and replaceable specifically because this was going to be the new most likely avenue of neutralization.

[@USN_CB_not_BC]

I have heard that X-09/X-10 are “defeatable”, as any lock are. BUT knowing where the weak point is makes all the difference. Fortunately no relockers to worry about.

[@camronbay1]

@@DeviantOllam Diamond core drills make short work of the red labels.Also I have a rapid method to open these GSA containers.

[@camronbay1]

@@USN_CB_not_BC Oh yes a lot of technicians cut the bolts not me I defeat the lock.

[@squib308]

Any comment on hardplate, or 2-3 ply hardplate, vs ball bearing hardplate?

[@WalnutBun]

Welcome to a watch list everyone. Also, destructive entry is always fun, and I refuse to believe that it's possible to grow bored of it.

[@gazehound]

Yeah sure I'll get put on a watchlist to see this video

[@gregred78]

It trips me out how construction guys rag Makitia equipment and are always saying it's gotta be Milwaukie and the blue machine isn't any good. I remember as a guy just starting out in construction the big blue drills with the 18" battery was the only thing available at the time. Seeing those things nowadays brings back memories and I just love the nostalgia of seeing them. That was the first cordless drill I had in my hands!

[@nuggert]

Is the external case material typically ferrous?

[@Plisky]

that blue label serial come back to anything fun?

[@divlles]

I know some drills sometimes have a locking throw control with this one being remote oremote or on a handle type table cable is there still like a locking throttle control or is it just or is it just all by hand in no way too you can control it whether be electronically orelectronically from mechanically really cool drill though and set up

[@robbonarlaw]

Another very interesting video, thanks deviant!! What a lovely way to end the day.

[@DeviantOllam]

glad you liked it!

[@datsquazz]

I'm curious what the requirements are if the container has Classified/SCI material in it. Is the custodian being present fine or does the technician need the appropriate clearance?

[@DeviantOllam]

It can be done a number of ways. Ultimately, the custodian generally has authority to dictate what security measures are in place. In this case, the custodian didn't stand in the room with me for 100% of the cutting time, but I inform him that I would make sure he was there right as it was finishing up and I left the drawers taped up until he was back, etc. Being cleared as a worker can make it easier for someone on the job to pass through certain spaces in a building. If you're in an open container facility, for example. If you don't hold a clearance, typically the plan is to have the container moved to a space which a visitor can access.

[@neillthornton1149]

@@DeviantOllam As an FSO, that's pretty much what I would have done. We would have had a minder in the room just as SOP for contractors in the space though.

[@Kriss_L]

If the safe was used for SCI, then it would be in a SCIF. If the locksmith does not have SCI access, then they would need to be escorted at all times while in the SCIF.

[@JustNilt]

@@Kriss_L Honestly, even if one does have SCI clearance, you may still need an escort. It depends on the specific contents.

[@Kriss_L]

@@JustNilt I spent most of my Navy time as a CTA/NEC 9190 (SSO).

[@alexknouse9133]

I hope that Glock hard case's contents isn't supposed to be on inventory somewhere

[@marcogenovesi8570]

somebody's backside was on fire because someone else discovered that something important was missing and was not happy

[@AndyMcBlane]

neat bit of kit thanks

[@didxogns1]

Hm seems like metal is pretty thin. I wonder if oxyacetylene torch can be faster

[@Crazyclay78YT]

that just bumped up my ranking on the watchlist