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3D-printed 'bump keys' are a tech-savvy lockpicker's best friend

Dietrichw

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We've all locked ourselves out of our homes or offices at least once, but what do you do when there aren't any handy spare keys laying around? Well, seeing as how we live in the future, you could always 3D print one. Printing a plastic replica of a key you've already got in your possession is a piece of cake, but the real trick for the curious and the criminal alike is figuring out how to print a key that'll open locks without having an original key on hand. Wired spoke to a pair of lockpickers who did just that -- with just a photo of a keyhole, some understanding of the lock's depth and a bit of crafty purpose-built software called Photobump, security consultants Jos Weyers and Christian Holler can print so-called "bump keys" that allow them to jimmy open nearly any lock with just a bit of elbow grease.

 

Haven't heard of bump keys before? Long story short, they're specially filed keys that you slip into a keyhole and hit with a mallet. Why? The energy from that thump is transferred up from the key's grooves and into the two layers of pins that normally keep the lock from rotating -- if you strike the bump key just right while trying to turn it, that top layer of pins will leap out of the way long enough for you to unlock the whole shebang.

 

 

yea.... that is a little too easy as someone could easily print out a bunch of these for cheap. but interesting 

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Just as easily as getting a key and sanding it down. Honestly, the media is going to have a field day with this. If someone wants to make a bump key, they wouldn't buy a fucking 3d printer. They'd buy a $30 key

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Good luck trying that on my 5 lever lock....

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Good luck trying that on my 5 lever lock....

if you buy me a 3d printer, and a ticket to the UK, im prepared to try it.

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if you buy me a 3d printer, and a ticket to the UK, im prepared to try it.

Haha well you cannot use a traditional lock pick, as there are no pins, and you cannot drill them either :P

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Haha well you cannot use a traditional lock pick, as there are no pins, and you cannot drill them either :P

.... mind bullets?

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.... mind bullets?

 

well I guess smashing the window is probably a better option... but be my guest

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Haha well you cannot use a traditional lock pick, as there are no pins, and you cannot drill them either :P

Do a lot of buildings have those kind of locks? I'm interested, as quite many locks here on public buildings keys can be inserted either way, and probably have pins on both sides, making them easy to unlock with a key, but difficult to pick.

 

For some reason I'd like to learn lockpicking... Too bad the only tools available here would be just paperclips and small flat headed screwdrivers (and trying to pick a padlock that doesn't stay in place is impossible for a beginner, and learning with a padlock because picking other's locks isn't exactly legal)...

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3D printing one would be very convenient since you can print multiple keys in different sizes and have spares. Bump keys alone aren't terribly hard to come by or acquire for cheap. A simple Google search will yield results or if you're in Indonesia, go to the local locksmith for a bunch of bumps, they'll happily give you like 20 keys for about USD$10.

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I've made bumb keys with 5 dollar keys from home depot before how would printing them be more effective? They would be fairly brittle no? I feel like 3D printing would lend itself better to making fake keys from imprinted copies, as you could tweak and fine tune the design.

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I've made bumb keys with 5 dollar keys from home depot before how would printing them be more effective? They would be fairly brittle no? I feel like 3D printing would lend itself better to making fake keys from imprinted copies, as you could tweak and fine tune the design.

 

Having an imprint of the key, still a hell lot easier to just make it no?

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Bump keys don't work on decent locks... So pay some money for your important locks. If you buy cheapest lock possible they don't even need a bump key because those locks open with like two generic keys.

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Having an imprint of the key, still a hell lot easier to just make it no?

I meant as a base to start from, but yes just knowing the type you could make a scratch key but it would probably take you quite a while to get it right.

 

Bump keys don't work on decent locks... So pay some money for your important locks. If you buy cheapest lock possible they don't even need a bump key because those locks open with like two generic keys.

^this
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I can unlock a door without anything but a simple tool that I won't mention.

 

In terms of this key, I don't get why the locksmiths went public about it, they could have sold the idea privately.

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I've opened a masterlock lock with a hair pin and small screwdriver before. Had to because we lost the key to a home made gun locker, and it had security hinges and shit. Tried it again, couldn't get it to work oddly enough. Fluke?

Ketchup is better than mustard.

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-snip

 

I prefer the more civilized approach. 

The real question is, buckshot, or those sissy door breaching rounds?

Ketchup is better than mustard.

GUI is better than Command Line Interface.

Dubs are better than subs

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The real question is, buckshot, or those sissy door breaching rounds?

Neither. Brute strength. 

 

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Good luck trying that on my 5 lever lock....

Saw off the latch with a reciprocating saw or a grinder with a metal cutoff wheel. It will be open within 3 minutes tops.

 

We accidentally locked the office without the key before leaving on vacation, and my dad had to do this when we got back.

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▶ Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning. - Einstein◀

Please remember to mark a thread as solved if your issue has been fixed, it helps other who may stumble across the thread at a later point in time.

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Oh no! it's not like you could buy lockpick sets already.. 

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