Jim Redelfs writes:

Sure you can lock it.. for all the good that does.. A standard hex
socket opens any NID, locked or unlocked.

The very first generation of S/NIDs required a THIN-walled socket. We
used our common "can wrench".

Yep; a really specialized tool....not. I own a classic Bakelite one,
it must be from the 1940's or 50's.

However, it has been many, MANY years since the device was "secured"
with a common bolt. A not-so-common "security" hex "key" (special allen
wrench) has been required for YEARS.

A) And they changed out every older NID; correct? [Nope]

B) The Allen key you describe is like the common cold. Not every one has
a cold today, but it's not hard to get one.

Still, the box is made of plastic as is the conduit (tube) that contains
the buried drop wire that runs to it in an underground installation.
There is little REAL security offered by most ANY telco attachment that
can't be overcome with a mere, pair of dikes.

When I consulted on a number of issues on a $EXPENSIVE house, we put the
NID in the basement, exited the house below grade with the cable and
trenched it to the pole. Then we ran 10' up the pole in rigid conduit.

Ma bitched, but put her test point 11' above ground. Also, a separate
cable in parallel is shorted at its end. If it is cut [Say an ambitious
thief has a hacksaw and is willing to stand there by the street sawing..]
the house alarm goes off at once.
--
A host is a host from coast to
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433