How to Bump Locks
How to Bump Locks describes an underestimated lock-opening technique by which a large variety of mechanical locks can be opened quickly and without damage by a relatively untrained attacker. Among other things we examine how this works, why it works better on some locks than on others, whether one could detect that this technique was used against a lock and what the lock-industry could do to protect new locks against this technique.
Understanding the threat of this new method of manipulating locks is of added importance because we have found that this method actually works better on the more expensive mechanical locks generally considered to be most resistant to manipulation.
Bumping, sometimes also called ‘Rapping’, has been a known technique for at least the past 50 years. Few people use the technique, and the method does not seem successful against a large number of locks unless the ‘minimal motion method’ described below is used. Once correctly used, we found this technique to be immensely powerful, allowing a large variety of locks to be opened.
Those that depend on the security of locks (or any other piece of technology for that matter) need to be able to continuously re-evaluate their security having full knowledge of any threats. This vulnerability is simply too generic: it affects many locks and cannot be ‘fixed’ by a single lock manufacturer working in secrecy until a new and better lock can be released. This treatise will also help facility managers to re-evaluate their security and see whether additional security measures need to be taken at some locations.
In all, How to Bump Locks? Will provide a reader with method to bump expensive mechanical locks without substantial damage, usually in under 30 seconds, with little training and using only inexpensive tools.
You will read following matter in detail in this treatise:
- Preface
- Introduction to locks and lock security
- How locks work
- Picking locks
- The snapper pick, lockpick gun and vibrating tools
- Bumping locks
- History
- Principle & Bump keys
- The pull-back method
- The minimal-movement method
- Multi-principle locks
- Problems
- Refinements & Ideas
- Expensive locks
- Forensics
- Conclusions
- Re-evaluating facility security
- Locks that resist bumping
- Acknowledgements
