Make sure Santa is the only one sneaking around your home this Christmas!
Published 11.12.2017 in the Blog.
Amidst all the festivities and celebrations, it is easy to lose sight of the importance of home security. But with more reasons for a burglar to break in, it’s important that home security is not overlooked this festive season!
An unsecure door provides the quickest and easiest route for an intruder to enter a property. Alarmingly, many standard cylinders offer little or no added security features to protect against common burglary methods. Checking that your lock provides maximum protection is essential to ensure the safety and security of your home.
Make door security priority this festive season
Criminals are increasingly exploiting basic door security measures. If your cylinder has no additional security features to defend against lock breaking techniques, it can take a thief just seconds to defeat the cylinder. Yet, many people are completely unaware of how important the cylinder is in protecting a property.
Our research has found that *87% of people are unaware of the two most common methods burglars use to break in to a cylinder - lock snapping and lock bumping. With this in mind - through our brand new Christmas TV ad - we are asking homeowners to review their door security this December to ensure their cylinder is designed to withstand common lock breaking techniques.
The easiest way of doing this is by checking whether your cylinder is stamped with a BSI Kitemark, visible underneath where the key is inserted. This way you will have the confidence in knowing that the quality of the cylinder has been thoroughly tested to recognised industry standards.
UAP offer high security cylinders with anti-burglar features, designed to protect homes against lock breaking attacks.
Cylinder snapping
Cylinder snapping is one of the most common lock breaking techniques, thought to account for around a quarter of all break-ins.
On standard cylinders the weakest point is at the central screw hole (as there is less metal here). When force is applied, in an attempt to break the cylinder to gain access, the lock will simply snap at the screw hole, making it very easy for a burglar to then manipulate the cylinder in to opening.
The UAP high security 1 star and the Kinetica 3 star Kitemarked cylinders have a sacrificial cut line on them, which when force is applied, the cylinder will break on this line only, leaving the locking mechanism intact.
Cylinders can also be snapped if they protrude as little as 2mm from the outside door handle – so make sure you have the correct size cylinder fitted to your door so it sits flush to the door handle.
Lock Bumping
Lock bumping is another entry gaining method. It is one of the worse ways in which a lock can be breached, as it often leaves little evidence that the lock has been attacked which can result in insurance companies refusing to pay out.
It involves placing a ‘bump key’ into the lock and striking with an object – usually with a mallet or hammer. This causes the pins in the cylinder to vibrate up and down, eventually tricking them into opening. The only way to be protected from this is to upgrade to an anti-bump cylinder.
The Patented timing pins within the UAP high security 1 star and Kinetica 3 star cylinder are cleverly designed to interrupt the timing of the pins when bumped.
Drilling and Picking
Other techniques used by burglars are drilling and picking. UAP high security cylinders use anti-pick pins on each side of the lock to defend against picking and by using anti-drill pins, the cylinders are almost impossible to drill into.
With burglaries peaking around the festive season, it’s vital to check that your door is as secure as possible to avoid any nasty surprises this Christmas.
For more information on common lock burglary techniques and how to protect your home, click here.