[lanthade]

The power drill mention in the headline is a bit click-baity because in the end while a power drill was used it was unnecessary and was not the solution to the problem. Had they known how to properly use the hardware security devices they had the power drill wouldn't have been deployed at all.

[jumhyn]

But the additional cards may very well have been necessary to understand “there is something wrong with our usage of the cards, this error is not a one-off failure due to corrupted data or broken hardware or other problem local to the California card(s)”. Having multiple independent reproductions of an issue helps you narrow down what the commonalities are!

[Thorrez]

Well, it would have been necessary if they hadn't managed to find the employee in California who had the password for the California safe memorized.

[hshdhdhehd]

There are lots of alternative ways this could have played out. Yes.

[Daviey]

Sorry, but someone happening to have memory of the combination can also not be considered an adequate solution.

[reader9274]

He clearly had the combination written down

[Noumenon72]

The text says "Fortunately, another colleague in California had memorized the combination to the on-site safe". You might think that's unlikely and he probably wrote it down, but it's not "clear" from the text.