Bump Keys

It seems that the public in the US and the UK are now becoming aware of ‘Bump Keys’. This information has been public knowledge in countries such as Germany for quite a while, I personally was first exposed to then a few months ago during a security training course. Basically a Bump Key is a key that is cut shorter and with the cuts deeper than normal. The key can then be inserted in a lock, tapped with a hammer and the door opens.

There are two major issues here: Firstly the fact that these Bump keys can open almost any lock, and secondly the fact that there is no evidence of them being used. This could mean that your insurance company believes that the original key was used to open the lock and then refuses to pay out.

Here is a link to the video that shows how Bump Keys work. It’s the one that I saw myself a while ago, I believe it is German in origin but it is subtitled in English.

Apparently locks made by Medeco and Abloy are resistant to the Bump Keys. I am not sure if these are available in the UK however. I guess it just goes to show that the criminals are always one step ahead and all we can do is play catch up as best we can ...

I believe the first time this technique was published was in the Chaos Computer Club magazine in 2005. Certainly this is the earliest reference I can find. The best article I can find on this subject is by Security Expert Mark Weber Tobias and is available on this link.

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