It appears a token technology that we’ve relied on to secure our possessions and domiciles for centuries has been hacked by clever men with 3-D printers and rubber mallets.
These 3-D Printed Skeleton Keys Can Pick High-Security Locks in Seconds (Wired)
One of the hairier unintended consequences of cheap 3-D printing is that any troublemaker can duplicate a key without setting foot in a hardware store. But clever lockpickers like Jos Weyers and Christian Holler already are taking that DIY key-making trick a step further: They can 3-D print a slice of plastic or metal that opens even high-security locks in seconds, without even seeing the original key.
The article at the link also has this very informative gif a showing how a bump key works in a lock.
According to the logic employed by some critics of biometric technologies, this means locks opened using metal keys are useless now. I, for one, however, will not be contracting with any security guard services today. A fingerprint front door unlocker would be cool, though.
