Open any lock with $1 keys
Published August 7th, 2006 in Science, TechnologyThe above newscast illustrates a technique known as bump keying, which as you might expect, involves the use of a “bump key”. A bump key is essentially a modified boilerplate key that can open any lock in which it fits by bumping it with a blunt object until it turns. Unlike lock-picking, bump keying takes very little skill aside from creating the key itself. As the locksmith says in the video, this essentially makes the majority of mechanical locks useless, and a $100 lock gives no more protection than a $10 one when this is employed.
Read more: Bumping Locks (pdf) [toool.nl, via Engadget]
I saw that PDF after seeing this video on Kotaku.. and I have to say its a pretty old technique and a lot of new locks don’t work so well. I spent a whole summer mastering lock picking and I am far from a master. Newer locks need the key’s shoulders to be shaven away like it describes in that pdf. If you really want to get into it you will need a professional cutter to make your keys and most people at say… home hardware… won’t just make you a bump key :S