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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."
(Score: 2) by hankwang on Wednesday September 03 2014, @04:21PM
I was thinking of an attack where one guy holds an NFC reader next to your pocket and another one an NFC card emulator next to your door. With a mobile internet connection, that could work, if the allowed latencies of NFC are not too strict.
Avantslash: SoylentNews for mobile [avantslash.org]
(Score: 1) by malloc_free on Wednesday September 03 2014, @08:41PM
With the right card and proper encryption, this should not work. The cards I have used allow for public key encryption and, using that, creation of a shared secret key.
M.
(Score: 2) by hankwang on Wednesday September 03 2014, @10:14PM
How would that prevent this from happening? It's a known problem anyway:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relay_attack [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_field_communication [wikipedia.org]
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(Score: 1) by malloc_free on Thursday September 04 2014, @12:37AM
OK yeah there is little you can do about this if the system you use only requires one method of authentication - just the card itself. I see most of the solutions attempt to detect delays in transmission/relpy. So one way to fix this would be to use two-factor authentication, where a pin is required as well as the card. Then there is shoulder surfing I guess...
M.