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"public key" doormat security protocol

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It has been suggested that for proper door security using a sack of keys hanging from the doorknob, all but one of which don't work, 1000 keys minimum are necessary.

The answer, and the idea: 99 nonfunctional keys, and 19 nonfunctional locks. That will give 2000 combinations to try, reducing the potential burglar to the much less satisfying smashed window.

References:

Hidden keys: Zen_tom

Deviousness, leprechaun style: Hippo

—GutPunchLullabies, Mar 23 2007

Door house http://www.netscape...ectos%2F&frame=true
House made entirely of doors [TheLightsAreOnBut, Mar 28 2007]

[link]






       What a great idea! - although it seems familiar, somehow.
—hippo, Mar 23 2007
   

       Marvellous - as long as it's relatively simple for the owner to determine the correct key and lock.
—zen_tom, Mar 23 2007
   

       What about 29 nonfunctional keys, 19 nonfunctional locks, and 9 nonfunctional doors?
—phundug, Mar 23 2007
   

       ... and 9 nonfunctional houses, which actually contain only mothballs and carpet sweepings.
—phundug, Mar 23 2007
   

       The real house can be surrounded by nine ablative artificial house shells, decreasing in size and grandeur. The criminal must break into all just to gain access to the shabby trailer contained at the center.   

       Also: Ha!
—GutPunchLullabies, Mar 23 2007
   

       Fun, and almost practicle. Some people hide the keys to almost the same effect. Not every person hides their keys, Not every thourough search will find keys. not every one is patient enough to   

       I think what you have found is a mechanical version of a keypad entry. Manufacturing and installing and messing with such a system will probably be more expensive than some electronics. But, that has been done to death.   

       I think we can go one further without the need to get people to manufacture fake locks.   

       I am not sure which way to turn a lock to unlock it and to lock it. It may not be universal for all I know and you may be able to get it both ways. With a well manufactured door you should not be able to tell how many are locked if only one is locked. They could be locking something that is unlocked and if you lock more than one this can become an impossible task.   

       You could switch it up the old fassioned way by taking the key to the locked lock, you don't have to guarantee that it is there. The frustration of checking plus the possibility of impossibility is a possibility that makes people give up.   

       If you want to manufacture specialized locks I recommend toggles and counters. You may remember the way you started out if you are a theif but you could have a counter on the other side of the door to measure their persistance to help you assess the threat level.   

       You could have each lock toggle the neighboring lock and have the thief play a game of lights out. It still has one combination that unlocks it, I think.   

       -MercuryNotMars, accidentally deleted by me
—GutPunchLullabies, Mar 23 2007
   

       How about just 10 functional keys. But you need to remember what order to press them in.   

       [edit: What, too subtle?]
—IJK, Mar 23 2007
   

       I think I have done that once.
—MercuryNotMars, Mar 23 2007
   

       If the keys are in any discernable order (which they must be for you to be able to use them), then the burglar can just come back on a handful of occasions and pick up where he left off, doing a couple hundred at a time.   

       Perhaps if the one lock that does work has an algorithm in it that the owner knows, and which predictably changes which key the right one is every week?
—Smurfsahoy, Mar 24 2007
   

       The following was recoverd simply by pushing the back button over 50 times.   

       //Fun, and almost practicle. Some people hide the keys to almost the same effect. Not every person hides their keys, Not every thourough search will find keys. not every one is patient enough to   

       I think what you have found is a mechanical version of a keypad entry. Manufacturing and installing and messing with such a system will probably be more expensive than some electronics. But, that has been done to death.   

       I think we can go one further without the need to get people to manufacture fake locks.   

       I am not sure which way to turn a lock to unlock it and to lock it. It may not be universal for all I know and you may be able to get it both ways. With a well manufactured door you should not be able to tell how many are locked if only one is locked. They could be locking something that is unlocked and if you lock more than one this can become an impossible task.   

       You could switch it up the old fassioned way by taking the key to the locked lock, you don't have to guarantee that it is there. The frustration of checking plus the possibility of impossibility is a possibility that makes people give up.   

       If you want to manufacture specialized locks I recommend toggles and counters. You may remember the way you started out if you are a theif but you could have a counter on the other side of the door to measure their persistance to help you assess the threat level.   

       You could have each lock toggle the neighboring lock and have the thief play a game of lights out. It still has one combination that unlocks it, I think.//   

       [Me]   

       I guess we get to see if [GutPunch] did it on purpose. I thought... I think you can just undo most things by pushing the back button. Then I said... why don't I try that.
—MercuryNotMars, Mar 24 2007
   

       //Marvellous - as long as it's relatively simple for the owner to determine the correct key and lock.//   

       They could be marked with large tags that read " THIS ONE"
—Ling, Mar 24 2007
   

       Wait, so what's keeping some prankster from grabbing your Bag'O'Keys and running off with them?
—Feba, Mar 24 2007
   

       I was thinking about pranksters running off with them.   

       you would have a form of Janitor key rings with a chain or string. if two correct keys are on the same ring you would have to pull out the correct key to try the other keys on the other locks.   

       You could simply number them for identification. my guess is people will think to look for the shiny keys after a while. That is the real marker.
—MercuryNotMars, Mar 24 2007
   

       Put the keys in a locked box. Hide the key under your doormat.
—GutPunchLullabies, Mar 25 2007
   

       Hide the doormat under your pitbull.
—Custardguts, Mar 28 2007
   

       19 fake locks on the door could be considered ugly. However, two locks, which allow up to 10 turns, where only n turns on one of the locks actually unlocks the door, might create the same effect.
—TheLightsAreOnBut, Mar 28 2007
   

       Thanks for the laugh, Frankie. That reminds me of an old idea that I keep forgetting to post.
—TheLightsAreOnBut, Mar 28 2007
   

       Where do the others lead?
—GutPunchLullabies, Mar 28 2007
   

       Other people's houses, of course.
—hippo, Mar 28 2007
   
      
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