Door Keys Can Be Duplicated in 15 Minutes From Photos, Warns <i data-wp-gender="m">Evan Ottinger

Cybersecurity specialist and ethical hacker Evan Ottinger demonstrated that copying a physical door key requires little more than an unblurred social media picture and roughly 10 to 15 minutes of work. Ottinger explained that he adapted techniques taught during lock analysis sessions at a Red Team Alliance training, as reported by Newsweek.

The entire workflow relies on standard, accessible software. Using reference templates to align key blanks and determine pin depths from a photo, Ottinger corrected perspective and proportions in the open-source image editor GIMP, generated a 3D digital model, and fed it to a consumer 3D printer. Aside from the physical printer itself, all the software involved is freely available.

3D printing is not even a strict requirement. According to Ottinger, someone working from a properly scaled printout can manually file down a physical blank or cut a blank using standard commercial key-copying hardware. Crucially, the technique does not demand a close-up glamour shot: an incidental background appearance where a key rests on a counter or table often provides enough detail to map the bitting.

The practical risk lies in stealth. Unlike lock picking or physical forced entry, a cut duplicate unlocks a door without leaving visible scratches or broken pins. Ottinger advised treating key bitting with the same confidentiality as digital passwords, while noting that purely mechanical locks are rarely sufficient without supplementary alarms or video cameras.

Source: habr via Newsweek