
Killer escaped prison after being issued picture of master key - emhart
http://mobile.news.com.au/national-news/killer-escaped-prison-after-being-issued-picture-of-master-key-to-all-locks/story-fncynjr2-1226629878591
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bentcorner
> _"Those keys were a dead-set copy of the keys that we had. The key he copied
> was in the shape of a figure E, which was the master key."_

> _The officer said it was Heiss's fellow inmate - fellow murderer Shane Baker
> - who made the key. He said Baker was a jeweller who had jewellery-making
> equipment in his cell, and used this to work on the key._

This has "I don't know what I expected" written all over it

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edward
"The Prison Service has been forced to spend £250,000 on changing every lock
and key in Feltham young offenders' institution after a TV news crew filmed a
prison key during a media visit last week."

[http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/jul/05/broadcasting.you...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/jul/05/broadcasting.youthjustice)

~~~
JonnieCache
_Diebold voting machine key copied from photo at company's own online store_

<http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4066#more-4066>

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downandout
I heard about a similar incident in the Santa Clara county jail. In that case,
the inmate, ironically facing a federal counterfeiting currency charge,
managed to make a skeleton key to the jail by cutting plastic from a jail-
supplied Rubbermaid bin that was supposed to be used for storing personal
property. The inmate got the general shape of the key by looking at it as
guards passed by, then perfected it over a period of weeks by sticking it in
the lock and attempting to turn it. The lock made marks on the plastic where
the teeth were supposed to go. The inmate was caught and all plastic bins
removed from the jail after the key was finally good enough to open the lock,
which set off an alarm.

~~~
pestaa
Why did the alarm was set off? Do these locks work only with a key that passes
through electricity or have some other built-in secondary check? Really
curious.

~~~
downandout
Apparently there are parts of the Santa Clara County jail that are very old.
This occurred in a dorm-style housing unit, and the key he made opened a
stairwell door (the door to the stairwell being inside the housing unit, which
is how he was able to repeatedly test without scrutiny). The door was alarmed
and went off when it opened. Most modern jails don't use skeleton-style keys,
and the doors are opened and closed electronically, but the part of the jail
he was in was decades old.

~~~
jamornh
I think he was asking that if the guards can use a key to get through without
setting off an alarm, why did this guy's key set the alarm off?

~~~
downandout
I'm not entirely sure, but I think that the door was not ordinarily used by
anyone, something akin to the jail version of a fire exit. I believe it was
set to alarm regardless of who opened it, but if an authorized person opened
it, presumably they would let whomever receives the alarms know about it in
advance and not send in an army of officers.

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Drakim
People need to realize that the shape of your key is pretty much a "password".
Letting your keys lay on a table in open view is akin to leaving a piece of
paper with your password out in open view.

~~~
pixelcort
With 3D printing coming mainstream in the next decade, combined with high
resolution cameras being common on smartphones, it's going to be important to
start hiding the teeth of keys.

~~~
hashmymustache
This is why keys need foreskin

~~~
eksith
Most new prison keys have this feature, I think. It's some sort of retractable
sheath of sorts that hides the profile of the teeth.

And some high-security keys don't have teeth at all. They have dimples of
varying depth on the side of the key serving the same function instead. These
don't jot out and are very hard to copy even photographically.

~~~
bizarref00l
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43EtAgFSso0>
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr5o58yt4VU>

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shaddyz
I had a hard time understanding the article. Can someone explain why putting
an image of the prison's master key on an inmate pamphlet makes any sense?
Someone went through the trouble of putting that exact key on the cover--it
wasn't coincidental. Did the designer think it was a way of teasing the
inmates with the key to their freedom?

~~~
unreal37
This is a good point. No one seems to be able to answer why that picture was
taken and then chosen as the cover of the welcome to prison booklet.

I bet somebody originally wanted an aerial shot of the prison, but someone
else wisely objected because that would be bad security move - giving
prisoners a map of the area...

~~~
mikeash
At first blush, I think one could easily have the attitude that a picture of a
key is no more dangerous than a picture of a gun. The vulnerability is clear
but not completely obvious. Especially when prisoners can also see the real
keys, as guards no doubt have to use them near prisoners from time to time.

~~~
lostlogin
Given the description of the key looking like an E, the picture could have
been an image of an ancient old key and the actual key was an ancient old key.
Old locks with that E style shape are very easy to open due to being so warn.
We used to pick them at school using modified spoons and such like. I'd hope
the prison wasn't like this though.

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afreak
Reminds me of a story about the MTA and their master keys being exposed:

<http://www.renderlab.net/advisories/mta-key/>

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aashaykumar92
This article made me realize that the whole concept of keys is something that
needs to be looked into quite a bit with the rise in 3D printing technology.
With an excellent 3D printer, one would hypothetically be able to take a
picture of keys and be able to print a copy of them.

~~~
emhart
competent attackers have been able to sight-read & reproduce keys for literal
millennia. What needs to be evaluated is user behavior regarding keys.

~~~
jonknee
> What needs to be evaluated is user behavior regarding keys.

Or just smarter keys like cars have these days (which have pretty much stopped
non flat-bed car theft).

~~~
RobertHoudin
I know practically nothing about the smarter keys that cars have these days.
Could you please elaborate? I'm intrigued.

~~~
emiliobumachar
I don't have any inside knowledge, but presumably the keys and car exchange
messages and do some crypto signing. For example, the car makes up and sends a
random string, the key signs it and sends it back.

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gcb0
People whose work depends on keys doesn't know their basics working...

If there was a computer and a password printed on those booklets it would have
spurred new silly internet laws.

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fnordfnordfnord
Here is a typical TDCJ key for reference, These are available on Ebay BTW.
[http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mir8l4p7ugK0Tt6QMd5Da...](http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mir8l4p7ugK0Tt6QMd5Daog.jpg)

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jasoncartwright
Reminds me of this...

<http://boingboing.net/2007/01/25/diebold-voting-machi.html>

"someone has made a copy of the key which opens ALL Diebold e-voting machines
from a picture on the company's own website"

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swang
I remember there was some graduate study done at UCSD where they took a
picture of a key from afar, and using a computer, be able to create the exact
key that accounted for the angle the picture was shot out. Does anyone
remember an article like that?

~~~
prawks
A few comments up from here: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5613791>

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hexonexxon
People often sell master keys on ebay and other sites and upload photos of the
key.
[http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/10/master_keys.ht...](http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/10/master_keys.html)

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codeulike
Bear in mind: It was over 20 years ago, and they caught him again with 12
days.

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hiroprot
So, they essentially handed each inmate a key to their freedom (in the form of
the handbook) upon arrival?

Am I the only one who thinks that's somewhat philosophical? :)

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lutusp
So much for the myth of the stupid criminal being kept in jail by smart
authorities.

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px43
Reminds me of this story:

[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/01/daniel-ferraris-
new...](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/01/daniel-ferraris-new-york-
master-keys_n_1928826.html)

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mark_lee
Is this an example that a man can be smart and stupid at the same time? paid a
lot of effort to get out for 12 days , then got several more years in jail for
that,maybe,wow.

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betterunix
Hm...where have I heard this story before...

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management>

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loceng
Security 101? :)

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ttrreeww
Looks like one of them is released in 2011!

[http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/infamous-
nt-k...](http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/infamous-nt-killer-
daniel-lothar-heiss-to-be-released/story-e6frf7jx-1226084937278)

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xntrk
The couldn't have possibly used someones house keys? lol

