Jul.17, 2012
Forbes' Andy Greenberg reports that at the Hackers On Planet Earth conference in New York, a German hacker and security consultant who goes by the name "Ray" demonstrated it was possible to open up high security handcuffs with plastic copies he cheaply produced with a laser-cutter and a 3D printer.
The handcuffs are manufactured by the German firm Bonowi and the English manufacturer Chubb and designed to be opened by same keys. This means anyone who has access to the standard key can easily reproduce it and open a certain manufacturer's cuff.
Ray said he bought a Chubb key from eBay and rarer Bonowi key from other source. Then he created CAD models and reproduced the keys both in plexiglass with a standard laser cutter and in ABS plastic with a Repman 3D printer. The plastic key can easily open a Chubb and be carried through any airport security.
(Image credit: Forbes)
However Ray says his goal isn't to making this information available for criminals but to make the police aware there is security issues. "The key itself never was a secret, even though they won't sell it there are good pictures of it on the internet, even on police-equipment shops."
"If someone is planning a prison or court escape, he can do it without our help," says Ray. "We're just making everyone aware, both the hackers and the police."
"Lock security was broken before. I've just made it easier."
He plans to upload the CAD files for the Chubb key to Thingiverse afterwards. Even so, Ray says he won't post CAD models of the Bonowi or Clejuso models online. "given that those keys are harder to obtain and providing blueprints for their reproduction could in fact reduce their real-world security." reported Forbes.
This is not the first time Ray hacked handcuff keys with 3D printer. Back in 2009 he used a 3D printer to print official handcuff key from the Dutch police. "My intention mainly was to show a reprap can print actual keys – that to my knowledge never has been done before and I was surprised myself how good it finally worked."
Source: Forbes
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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