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3D printer prints handcuff key

By ITWeb
Johannesburg, 18 Jul 2012

3D printer prints handcuff key

While 3D printing has shown much promise in helping to treat physical ailments and disabilities, there may be more nefarious applications in the near future, CNET reports.

The security of high-end handcuffs can be defeated by plastic keys cheaply produced with a laser cutter and 3D printer. This was demonstrated by a man, who identified himself as "Ray", at a Hackers on Planet Earth conference workshop.

His 3D-printer-produced replica keys opened handcuffs produced by German manufacturer Bonowi and British maker Chubb, both of which try to restrict distribution of keys that open their locks to law-enforcement agencies. Ray said he made precise measurements of the key, which he said was purchased on eBay, and created CAD models from which he produced copies in Plexiglas and ABS plastic.

According to The Verge, Ray, who has served as a handcuff advisor to German police, says he is making this information available not to help criminals, but to make the security issue more widely known.

"We're just making everyone aware, both the hackers and the police," he said.

Forbes notes that the demonstration highlights a unique problem for handcuff makers, who design their cuffs to be opened by standard keys possessed by every police officer in a department, so that a suspect can be locked up by one officer and released by another, says Ray.

Unlike other locks with unique keys, any copy of a standard key will open a certain manufacturer's cuff. “Police need to know that every new handcuff they buy has a key that can be reproduced,” he says. “Until every handcuff has a different key, they can be copied.”

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