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."

Comments

Re:"cheaply produced"

[ThatsMyNick]

Well, $4 is cheap enough.

A Handcuff isn't meant to be unbreakable

[joeflies]

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.

Re:A Handcuff isn't meant to be unbreakable

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

It isn't about having a 3D printer handy after you are cuffed. It is about challenging the idea of physical security through obscurity. Handcuffs rely on a "shared secret" of the physical key, that's why the manufacturers go to great lengths to control distribution of those keys. But 3D printers make it practical to turn that physical key into data, and at that point all of the problems of security through obscurity of information start to apply to a formerly physical security model.

In other words, all it takes is for one person to "scan" a key and upload it to the internet and now it is orders of magnitude more likely that someone will have a copy of the key on their person, perhaps disguised as jewlery or just in stuck in their pockets, that will let themselves unlock their cuffs while sitting in the back of a police car.

Re:identical?

[Anonymous Coward]

Note: The people most likely to want to get away after being apprehended are both guilty AND repeat offenders. The second factor being a group that might have the foresight to wear such a thing.

Wrong. I want to get away after being apprehended illegally.

You know--if the police decide to kidnap and beat me....or just beat the shit out of me while other offices stand by and watch^H^H^H^Hfigure out their cover stories....Maybe they'll just handcuff you and take you back to their torture chair to let you die...or your baby.

Maybe you should do nothing. You'll get your day in court, right? I mean--this is the United States of America where we have due process and a fair trial. The government would never fuck with that perfect system.
Resist. Always resist.

lock pick is cheaper

[Charliemopps]

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.

Re:lock pick is cheaper

[Anonymous Coward]

I call bullshit. If you have found a way to pick sidebar locks with bits of wire then you should write a book about it. Nobody else has.

Re:identical?

[Anonymous Coward]

WTF is wrong with normal URLs people?!
If you want me to follow a link then post the orignal link.

Re:identical?

[__aaltlg1547]

So for the sake of convenience, they made the keys identical and therefore not secure. Same as any other security system: convenience and security are incompatible goals.