If there’s one thing that sucks about breaking-and-entering
it’s that it’s too difficult. Three enterprising young MIT students have
figured out a way to make that easier,
thanks to a 3D printing workaround to the sticky issue of making
duplicates of so-called “non-duplicatable” keys. All you need is a
flatbed scanner, an original Primus lock key made by Schlage (or just a
picture of one) and some code the students revealed at last weekends
DevCon hacking conference.
The students in question are David Lawrence, Eric Van Albert and
Robert Johnson, and they aren’t actually evil, just intent on
demonstrating the fact that reliance on older tech like these so-called
high security keys might be in need of an update, given recent advances
in tech like the advent of affordable, easy-to-access 3D printing tools.
These guys didn’t just manage to replicate the keys in software
models, either – they actually submitted their designs to 3D printing
services including Shapeways and i.Materiealise, and were mailed fully
working copies made of different materials including titanium. With
sharing sites like The Pirate Bay now supporting 3D models, you can
easily imagine a scenario where someone uploads a key of their hated
neighbor’s front door and points the mischief-loving crowd over at 4chan
or somewhere at it for shenanigans. That sharing aspect is what makes
this a little more threatening than finding someone you know with loose
ethics and a hardware store who can make you a copy yourself.
3D printing is bound to result in upheaval and new concerns not only
for manufacturers of cheap, easily replicated goods, but also for
lawmakers and security professionals worldwide, especially with big
money and talent like the new Stratasys/MakerBot 3D-printing giant trying to democratize the process.
For now, most people’s business, banks and hospitals are probably
safe from this kind of attack, especially if 3D printing services start
watching out for this kind of thing, as the vast majority of people
don’t have at-home 3D printing powers yet. But worth noting some basic
stand-bys in the security world are starting to look like jokes.
Oh, and don’t do crimes, people, even if they’re easy.
