Use a Magnet to protect your PC

Posted by Martin in Hacking, Hardware  Tags: , , , ,

23

Jan


A wonderful tip about a hack was send to me yesterday by Joe. It describes how to change the way a PC, or most other devices that use a power source, can be protected by by a simple magnet and some stuff that does not cost more than $5. All you need is a reed switch, a magnet and some duct tape. It does secure your pc as well from someone that wants to turn it on without your permission.

You basically cut the power button cable of the motherboard, install the reed switch (controlled by magnetic fields) in between and tape the reed switch to the front panel. Now, whenever someone presses the power button nothing happens. Only if you press the magnet against the case at the position where you placed the reed switch and the power button the PC will turn on.

This is of course a basic protection and someone who really wanted to access it could simply remove the switch again or replace the power unit in the PC. Take a look at the video below that walks you through the installation of the protection.


Pc Protection With Hidden Switch - A funny movie is a click away

Click Here for a Free System Scan to scan your system for errors!

10 Users Commented In This Post

Subscribe To This Post Comment Rss Or TrackBack URL
Brian_K says, January 23rd, 2008   

When did putting magnets near, let alone
INSIDE one’s computer become a good idea?

How much damage is accidentally wiping your hard drive going to do?

Better yet, what happens when a tiny little decimal point gets moved a few places?

Martin says, January 23rd, 2008   

Brian the magnet is only used to power the PC, it is not placed there all the time. And it does not have that much power to affect the hard drive I guess.

zzzZZZzzz says, January 23rd, 2008   

why not just setting a bios password?

Nick says, January 24th, 2008   

Today’s hard disks are protected against intense magnetic fields. Think about speakers and electromagnetic radiation emmiting from all those cables and procesing units inside.

OLIRC says, January 24th, 2008   

If you ever have dismantled a hard drive you noticed how strong the neodynium magnet is inside their. I don’t think it’s a problem with that magnet depicted here that you have to be sleepless for ;).

jojo says, January 24th, 2008   

Better also put a lock on the back of your PC. Most PC’s have a reset switch on the mobo that could be used to bypass the front button. See how easy he popped off the PC side in the video?

Alan says, January 24th, 2008   

How many times has the security of your PC been compromised by somebody pressing the power switch?!

Martin.. this is not a “wonderful tip”
/fail

Syahid A. says, January 26th, 2008   

Nice hack! But keep the hard disk a little bit far from the magnet!

Proteggi il tuo PC con una calamita says, January 30th, 2008   

[...] che รจ necessario posizionare una piccola calamita in una ben precisa posizione del case! Via ghacks google_ad_client = “pub-1585273873606952″; google_alternate_color = “FFFFFF”; google_ad_width = [...]

techjam.it » Proteggere il pc con una calamita says, February 4th, 2008   

[...] vi presento una notizia che mi ha molto incuriosito. Con questo video tutorial potrete eliminare lucchetti, chiavi dal [...]

Leave Your Comments Below
Hello, please leave your thought below

Please Note: Comments may need to approved by admin. so there's no need to resubmit your comments.