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High Security Handcuffs Opened With 3D-Printed and Laser-Cut Keys
Sparrowvsrevolution writes "In a workshop Friday at the Hackers On Planet Earth conference in New York, a German hacker and security consultant who goes by the name 'Ray' showed that he could open high-security handcuffs from manufacturers Chubb and Bonowi with plastic copies of keys that he cheaply produced with a laser-cutter and a 3D printer. Both companies attempt to control the distribution of their keys to keep them exclusively in the hands of authorized buyers such as law enforcement. Lasercut plexiglass versions of the Chubb key, which opens handcuffs like the ones used in passenger airline restraints, were selling for $4 at the conference. Ray plans to post the CAD file for the key on the 3D printing site Thingiverse after LockCon later this week."
Mcgyver used a bar of soap and a file to copy keys. Color me unimpressed.
Materials might be cheap, but if it requires both a laser cutter and a 3d printer, that's not exactly what I'd call cheap to produce.
See, that's why they should simply use magical warding and locking spells. Then anyone trying to escape would have to get a really lucky die roll to overcome the caster level of the original lock spell.
are all of their keys identical?
www.RacquetUp.org - Helping Detroit Youth
The fact that he managed to make a key for these doesn't surprise me at all.
The fact that there is a LockCon on the other hand.....
Now lets say this type of key creation is outlawed. .
Create handcuff keys
Be put in handcuffs
Use Key. Escape
It will be like bribing Law enforcement with counterfeit cash
. .
The thing about having one's hands in cuffs is that it is pretty difficult to unlock the handcuffs even you if had and could reach the key. Presumably, the first result is wide spread key availability is that your pockets are searched at the time the cuffs go on.
For the laser cut keys to really work, you need an accomplice and to be essentially unguarded.
...Activate! Form of...keys!
indefinite detention in 3...2...
more cops are better then high tech locks any ways with high tech locks you just go after the weak points.
Who holds the design and patent rights to the keys? I am betting that they are legally protected in some way.
There is only one set of legitimate buyers for these handcuffs.
Which means that being caught with one of these copycat keys in your possession is going to be hell of a thing to explain to an unsympathetic and skeptical cop,
Interesting the article mentions how those plastic keys are easy to take through airport security. As if it's easier than metal keys. I've routinely taken a keyring with about a dozen keys on planes, could contain any key, never did they really inspect which keys (it just had to go through the scanner). I'm sure just adding a metal handcuff key to that bunch would let me through just as easily. Maybe even easier than with a plastic key, as metal keys are more common.
Unlike music and movies, you can copy other people's patented works to your heart's content. Selling it isn't legal however.
Another thing to consider is security engineering has far longer timelines than information technology. I know not the pertinent patent numbers but it would not be surprising if they have already expired. As a simple example, nearly every American made automobile has sidebar locks copied over from the original Briggs and Stratton design long expired.
the goal of a handcuff is to restrain a person, namely a person who isn't likely to have a copy of the key handy, nor a 3d printer. And the detained person will not likely be given access to people who have keys or printers either.
It doesn't matter if the keys can be made easily, really, or even if it's the same key used in all the locks. THe basic point is that a handcuffed person would not be able to get themselves out without the tool.
Perhaps a lot is being made because it's a "high tech lock". Well you can take a low tech lock, such as a chain linked to a concrete block, and even though you could easily get out with a set of boltcutters, it's just as impossible to free yourself without access to the tools.
Handcuffs are just a quick and easy way of ensuring someone can't cause too much trouble. When your hands are held behind your back, you can't make much mischief in general. They aren't intended to be something to hold someone securely for long periods. Just to temporarily restrain someone for transport.
As such it isn't like the keying system has to be top notch. It is far more important that they are easy to unlock than that they are ultra-secure.
For that matter at times the police will just use what are more or less large zip-ties. Plastic flexi-cuffs are easy and cheap to use in a riot situation. They aren't very secure, they can be easily cut off and indeed that is what the police themselves do, but you can cheaply have a bunch of them if needed.
It should be fairly easy to design a laser cutter proof key - All you have to do is give it 3d features. With 3d printers it's a little trickier - the only real way is to make a key with features too small to be printed effectively. But this is a loosing battle since 3d printers are improving very fast.
Anyway, it isn't like duplicating a key is particularly tough if you have access to a machine shop. The only real way of making standard keys copy proof (at least to some degree) is to embed electronics / RFID / NFC tech in the keys and the cuffs. So a cuff can only be opened with a key of the right size, shape *and* code / protocol. It will still be possible to duplicate them of course... just much harder for the average person.
Ray plans to post the CAD file for the key on the 3D printing site Thingiverse after LockCon later this week."
If the lock maker is anything like other lock makers, it's likely to result in them sending in the lawyers and somehow contriving DMCA-takedown notices
standard cuffs that use the same key you can get anywhere.
Good to keep a copy on your keyring... just in case.
A lock pick is cheaper (usually free)
There are plenty of youtube videos teaching how to make your own.
I've yet to find a lock that I couldn't pick with one... that includes every lock in my house and even my car.
It's really not that hard when you get used to it.
For why the government needs to DCMA physical objects in addition to media. He does the world no good with his stunt. This will come back and bite us in a year or two.
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
I know a lot of departments that double cuff some, and, black box the links in between if they are the hinged types. The hinged types are a little harder to work with, since you can pivot your hands as easy as with the ones that have the 3-4 chain links. The steel box goes between them and covers the area where the key fits. On a personal note... just stick an explosive on the cuffs, and if they are unlocked, it explodes with enough force to sever the veins in the wrist and let them bleed out...after 1 or 2 die trying this, it will stop most of the others from trying ;)
Lets look at standard cuffs. They have been using a common key type for decades that anyone can buy anywhere. But Im willing to bet the actual majority of people who end up in cuffs by law enforcement and use their own key to escape is pretty damned small. This is less common cuff with a less commonly found key and thus reduces the chances of someone escaping using a custom key even less likely.
Besides, if someone is in these high tech cuffs I wouldnt think the police or whoever wouldnt have searched the person as well and found the key before hand. Unless of course they think suddenly every criminal is going to get a copy of this, tie it to string, tie it to a tooth and then swallow (or rectally hide it) it so they pull it out and unlock the cuffs, beat the officer to death after breaking out of the squad car or prison, hijack a vehicle and drive off into the sunset.
Its not like prisoners play escape artist that often once they have been cuffed. Im sure it happens on occasion but not enough for this to even be a concern. Besides the old addage is if one man can make it, a thousand can break it.
Ray plans to post the CAD file for the key on the 3D printing site Thingiverse after LockCon later this week.
From Article:
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.
WTF, Sparrowvsrevolution?
The surprising thing is that a flat key will work. Laser cutters are 2D devices; they do a great job cutting flat sheets, but you can't make 3D objects with them. The process is fast and cheap, though. Stereolithography takes forever.
I'm surprised that laser-cut acrylic would work. Thin acrylic isn't very strong. Polycarbonate ("Lexan") doesn't cut well with CO2 lasers. Acetyl ("Delrin") is probably the best choice. It's kind of expensive, but a key isn't very big.
This is exciting! It is common knowledge that there is a master key set for each vendor of car. I wonder if we could print out that set? Impress your friends when you can retrieve their locked-in keys without any risk of damage!
Forget MacGruber, the only Mac that had any interest to me is The Macallan.
If someone is passing you on the right, you are an asshole for driving in the wrong lane.
There aren't master key sets for each car - their are lock cylinder decoders and assemblable/half step key kits and key cutters that cut from key code. You could create these from a small CNC mill.
Take apart a lock cylinder some time and learn what you are talking about before you sound like an idiot.
120 characters ought to be enough for anyone
A plastic copy of a key is still a key.
This is news how?
"Durrr. Hey look Cleetus this here plastic key works just like a key."
Make the mechanism tough enough to turn that it will break a plastic key if you try to turn and use it but not one made of metal.
This makes your "Your first reference about being kidnapped is complete allegation where nothing has been proven" rather ironic, doesn't it.
Once you know the key's shape, all bets are off: you don't need fancy tech to make a copy. You can make a key out of metal with just a few hand tools, and it would probably be quicker than 3D printing too. Brass is easy to work and much stronger than plastic.
Thanks.
For some older cars you could actually go into a dealership with the VIN or the car. They could cut you a key while you wait. They didnt even need the key to your car. They did it from a book that had the setup for the key jig.
The failure in this handcuff problem is that both the locking mech (a key) and the unlocking mech (a key) are identical. Consider the public/private encryption key system used everywhere for digital communications. What the handcuff industry needs is sort of the inverse: some way that anyone can lock the cuffs but only the intended recipients can unlock them. There may be no solution to this problem, but it would be cool if there were. As a simple example: any officer applies the cuffs, and tags them as "unlockable only by police in user_set_XYZZY" . This at least partitions the universe of eligible unlockers, and perhaps lends itself to having a separate permissions message sent via secure comms channels.
(yeah I know this is a pipe dream)
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
He used the fact that the authorities didn't want the "one key opens all handcuffs" secret to become known to conceal some of his escapes.
Just use the cheap, disposable plastic restraints that don't have keys or locks and need to be cut off. No need to muck around with $150 handcuffs.
That being said, hinged cuffs behind the back, locks facing up (hands facing down), is beyond the ability of most people to escape, even if they have the key.
They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
...god help you if you get arrested and they find this on you, or worse, you actually use it and they catch you before you escape their custody.