Front Door Hacking: Redux

by Darkarchives

First off, I would like to give props to Cliff, the author of "Hacking Your Own Front Door" in 24:1.  If you somehow missed this article, the following will be somewhat more confusing.

Any locksmith will tell you that there are several hundreds of types of locks, each with their own unique key size and shape.

Logically, someone who wanted to be able to open every lock would require every type of key, which would cost a load of money and be a big hassle to carry around.  The trick with locks is that 90 percent of the locks in use today are one of ten garden varieties, including Schlage and Kwikset.

By having these ten main keys, you have a high chance of opening the lock.  As Cliff correctly pointed out, most areas use the same types of locks, like a dorm room or a neighborhood.

In the area where I live, every house that I know of uses a Schlage deadbolt as well as doorknob.  Therefore I would only need one key to get into all of these houses.

Making a bump key is as easy as filing down a spare key or even using a blank and starting from scratch.  The problem with this is that if you are making your first key, you tend to second guess yourself and take off too much.

I made my own Schlage key and when it didn't work, I just went online and bought a set of eleven keys.  Looking back, I now know that it takes some practice to bump, and Schlage is harder than some of the others.

Once you have made a bump key, don't be tempted to go and try it on your front door.

Some of the risks you run include getting the key stuck in there and having to call someone, or damaging your lock.  Repeatedly hitting a bump key can damage the springs that set the pins of a lock and can ultimately render the lock useless.

I personally suggest buying a Kwikset lock because as any lockpicker can attest, these locks are the easiest to bump and pick.  Also, it is a good idea to hit up Google videos or any other site to find some videos of people bumping a door.

Don't get too hung up on how they do it.  Instead try and learn generally what motions they do so that you can experiment later.  Also, videos of people bumping make it look incredibly easy (there is one of a 12-year-old girl doing it on her first try), but in reality I did was sit down with my key, lock, and the back end of the screwdriver and watch the TV for about an hour.

Instead of trying to be exactly like the people on the videos, I whacked at it and tried different angles and pressure until I got a successful bump.  After a while, I could bump one out of every ten, and then I started to actually pay attention to what I was doing so | could learn the best way for me.

I am going to take a brief moment to talk about what you should hit your bump key with.

My personal favorite, and it sounds like Cliff agrees with me, is the handle of a screwdriver.  However, from what I have read on the Internet, almost anything works.  Specific bumping tools which you can buy are normally a foot long with a rubber striking area on one end.  I have also heard of people using wooden spoons, hammers, wallets, and even women's heeled shoes.  Ultimately you want something that is hard enough to deliver a good sized shock to the key while still being small enough to handle.  Don't be afraid to experiment around with lots of stuff.  You can't really mess anything up too much.

Cliff's article covered how to bump using the "one click method."

As he explained, you insert the key and then pull it out one click so that the ridges can contact the pins and transfer the energy.  The way I bump locks is called the "minimal movement" method and I personally think that it is easier to learn on.  To set your key for minimal movement, you have to file off a bit of the tip of the key and a bit off of the shoulder (see the figure and parts marked in gray).  

The goal of filing these parts off of your key is to be able to stick the key all the way in, then let it go and have it come back out a tiny bit.  The way this works is that a normal key would have the pins rest in the flat area between the ridges, and by filing off the tip and shoulder you can put the key in so that the pins rest instead on the ridges.

When filing, don't worry about how much you take off of the shoulder.  The tip is where you need to be careful.  If you file too much, the pin will miss the ridge altogether and the key will be useless for minimal movement (you could still use it for the one click method).

I suggest you take off just a bit and test it, then take off a little more until you get it to the right place.

To use a key set for minimal movement you simply insert it and let it pop out a bit, then apply tension and bump.  The tension is the hardest part to master, and really the only way to master it is to practice at different amounts of tension.  If you have ever picked locks, then you know how much tension you need.

Cliff was right in that there is very little that you can do to prevent this type of attack on your house.  The only other solution that I could come up with besides his is to buy an extremely uncommon lock so that if the burglar wants in, he has to make a special key.

Another fact with bump keys is that the more expensive the lock is, the more vulnerable it is.  In most cases, locks cost more because they are more precisely crafted, and since the parts are fit better, the transfer of energy happens more smoothly and therefore easier.

Now that you know all this, I encourage you to try it yourself, but in the comfort of your home with a deadbolt that you bought for this purpose.

Also, try a Kwikset lock first because they are notoriously easy to pick and bump.  I do not recommend trying this on anyone else's locks, as that would be a really stupid idea because it is illegal.

Also, it is easier to bump locks that you are holding in your hand as compared to locks that are in a door, so I don't suggest that you try.

Instead of using bump keys to break into houses, use them to win bar bets and impress your friends.

Happy bumping.