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posted by azrael on Tuesday September 02 2014, @01:46AM   Printer-friendly
from the opening-pandora's-box dept.

One of the unintended consequences of cheap 3-D printing is that any troublemaker can duplicate a key without setting foot in a hardware store. Now Andy Greenberg reports that clever lockpickers are taking that DIY key-making trick a step further printing a "bump key" that opens even high-security locks in seconds, without seeing the original key.

A bump key resembles a normal key but can open millions of locks with a carefully practiced rap on its head with a hammer. Using software they created called Photobump, Jos Weyers and Christian Holler say it's now possible to easily bump open a wide range of locks using keys based on photographs of the locks' keyholes. As a result, all anyone needs to open many locks previously considered "unbumpable" is a bit of software, a picture of the lock's keyhole, and the keyhole's depth. "You don’t need much more to make a bump key," says Weyers. "Basically, if I can see your keyhole, there’s an app for that."

Weyers and Holler want to warn lockmakers about the possibility of 3-D printable bump keys so they can defend against it. Although Holler will discuss the technique at the Lockcon lockpicking conference in Sneek, the Netherlands, next month, he doesn't plan to release the Photobump software publicly and is working with police in his native Germany to analyze whether printed bump keys leave any forensic evidence behind.

Ikon maker Assa Abloy argues 3-D printing bump keys to its locks is an expensive, unreliable trick that doesn’t work on some locks whose keys have hidden or moving parts but Weyers argues that instead of dismissing 3-D printing or trying to keep their key profiles secret, lockmakers should produce more bump resistant locks with electronic elements or unprintable parts.

"The sky isn't falling, but the world changes and now people can make stuff," says Weyers. "Lock manufacturers know how to make a lock bump-resistant. And they had better."

 
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  • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Tuesday September 02 2014, @07:56PM

    by LoRdTAW (3755) on Tuesday September 02 2014, @07:56PM (#88620) Journal

    Unfortunately, no matter how groovy the lock technology we use, there's always the thermorectal method of obtaining a key. In my case, having abandoned big cities and now living in the boonies in Tasmania, I almost never lock my front door at all.

    Or just kicking the door down. Or breaking a window. But if you are that worried then you buy a reinforced door: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cs_b3f97VE [youtube.com]

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 03 2014, @07:53AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 03 2014, @07:53AM (#88804)

    Or just kicking the door down. Or breaking a window.

    Which makes it easier to convince the insurance company to pay out in cases of theft (without technically committing fraud by breaking stuff yourself).

    http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?321332-Burgled.-Claim-declined-because-of-no-proof-of-force-or-violent-entry [consumeractiongroup.co.uk].