B-Sealed EnaShackle 1 Bypass Using a Vice

We first came across padlock seals at BSides Canberra in 2017. There are a lot of different types of padlock seals which can be used for lots of different things, like locking up cash boxes, gaming and poker machines, keys and anything else that can be held by some wire. We have played with a few but today we are showing you a B-Sealed EnaShackle 1 bypass. You might have seen these devices if you are in Australia and been to BSides or OzSecCon. You will also have seen us using another bypass for this seal using electricity in our Lock Box Challenge video.

About the B-Sealed EnaShackle 1

The EnaShackle is different to other padlock seals as it is made up of three pieces. The wire that goes through a box or other item, the body of the shackle which is clear plastic so you can see where the hooks have hooked into, and a plastic centre piece that the wire hooks on to.

The EnaShackle has a couple of weaknesses. First, the clear body means you can see where the metal hooks are. We don’t know why they made it clear because it means when you are shimming or using another method to unhook the metal, you can easily see what you are doing. The other weakness is it is made in three parts. The outer shell and plastic centre piece clip together which means you can unclip them and take them apart.

In this article we are showing this method of pulling the seal apart. This way you can open or detach what the EnaShackle 1 is attached to, get to the contents or use what it is attached to, then put it back together again without anyone knowing you touched it. Sorry B-Sealed ???? There is an EnaShackle 3 on their website which looks different and hopefully fixes this problem but we haven’t gotten hold of one yet to examine and test. We haven’t seen an EnaShackle 2 so not sure what happened there. B-Sealed, if you want to send us any to test please feel free ????

How the EnaShackle 1 Works

The EnaShackle 1 has four clips on the yellow centre piece, two for each hook. In the photo below you can see the two clips for the bottom hook. There are also two clips on the other side of the top for the top hook. The EnaShackle 1 has two settings. It can be pushed onto the first set of clips or the second.

If it is on the first set of clips, it can also be shimmed as you can fit a small shim in and then slide the hook over the shim. We will put up another article soon with this bypass.

If it is on the second set of hooks, the ones deepest in the shackle, it is very difficult to shim without damaging or scratching the clear body. We think B-Sealed put those bends in the wire to stop shimming as they make it very hard to get a shim in at the right angle.

EnaShackle 1 Bypass – Using a Vice

We have to thank our friend Naraka for this bypass as he worked it out at OzSecCon 2018 when we were there this year. We talked about it briefly in our tamper evident competition walkthrough.

For this bypass, all you need is a vice, some pliers and safety glasses. A small portable vice will do and helps if the EnaShackle is already attached to something. In this article we don’t have it attached to anything so it is easier to see what we are doing in the pictures and video.

The yellow centre piece of the shackle is held in place by two clips, one on the back and one on the front. This stops the yellow piece slipping out of the clear plastic body. What we will do is squash the case in a vice making the plastic buckle so the clip doesn’t hold on anymore. This will be more clear below.

Always wear safety glasses! The EnaShackle could shatter in the vice when you are trying to bypass it. We have done this lots of times and it hasn’t yet but it’s not worth the risk. Be safe. Dad said that it could suffer “catastrophic failure” and shatter everywhere which sounds awesome!!!! so we may try this just for fun at another time, while wearing safety gear of course! ????

Step 1 – Put the EnaShackle 1 in a Vice

First put the EnaShackle 1 in the vice. We found it works best when you line up the yellow centre bit with the top of the vice. We have labelled it in the photo below.

Step 2 – Tighten the Vice to Squash the Plastic

Tighten the vice. As you squeeze the clear plastic case from the sides, the front a back expand and release the yellow clips. The yellow piece then just slides right out! ????

Usually you will hear a click as it releases and you know you have tightened the vice enough. Once unclipped you will feel it move easily.

You can see in the photo above the clear plastic case is bulging out releasing the yellow clip.

Step 3 – Slide the Centre Yellow Section Up

It is now easy to just lift the yellow piece and slide it up. The metal will still be caught on the hooks at this point.

You can see the yellow catch above the clear plastic case in this photo and the hole in the clear plastic case where the catch used to hold it all together. You can now take it out of the vice.

Step 4 – Detach the Metal Hooks

This can be easy or hard depending on what the shackle is attached to. In the video at the end of this article we don’t have anything attached so we can pull the metal through more and just unclip the hooks with our hands. If you have something in there and you can’t pull the metal through very far, use some pliers to pinch the hook that is sticking out the most together. This will release it from the catch. You can then usually rock the yellow piece a bit to get to the second hook and also pinch it closed and release it.

Step 5 – Pull the Metal Through and Reattach the Body

Now pull the metal through the clear plastic body. Sometimes the hooks catch. If they do, push them back out the other end and pinch them closed more.

Once the metal is through, use pliers to bend the hooks back to where they were so they can be reused. You can just push the yellow and clear body parts back together ready to reassemble the EnaShackle 1.

And thats it!! We have bypassed the EnaShackle 1. You can access whatever it was attached to then just clip it back together like you had never been there. Childs play! ????

Video of the B-Sealed EnaShackle 1 Bypass

Just to show you how to put all these steps together, here is a video of me and Boo bypassing the EnaShackle 1 and putting it back together.

We hope you like the video!!!

If you have any questions or tips, please leave them in the comments below or message us on Twitter. We would love to hear from you!!! ????????

Hope you like the music in the video. Its from one of my favourite Minecraft videos “The Struggle”: