Schlage, one of this countries most well known hardware and lock manufacturers and creator of the High Security
Primus key systems must be reeling from news released yesterday that a team of
MIT researchers have written a simple program to decipher a
Primus (and similar types) key from a photograph and send the information to a
3D printer to enable duplication of these once-thought of restricted key systems. (see the source below)
The
Schlage Primus key system, once thought by locksmiths across the country to be non-duplicatable, and also identified a couple of years ago as NOT Bump Resistant, faces one of the biggest threats to it's platform with the public release of this breaking news story.
In many states across the country,
Schlage convinced locksmith companies to take on their own outright keyways and dealer codes, to corner their own market preventing duplication of keys by hardware stores, cookie key cutters, shoe repairers and gas stations. Little did we know that Schlage were simply sharing key profiles across state, sometimes county lines and in some cicumstances sharing side pin codes (dealer codes) across state lines. The whole agreement appeared very shady, indeed.
3D printing technology has grown from it's infancy and is now being seen and used by small to medium sized manufacturing businesses.
UPS are rolling out a
trial 3D printer in some stores in San Diego, hoping to cash in on the opportunity for customers to
3D print a sample or spare part of their choice.
With access to many print stores across the country, the potential loss to current
Schlage Primus dealers could be huge. It means that virtually any
Primus key holder could get a copy made for less than $5 at their local print store. Dont think for a minute, that the large players in stationery and printing like
Staples,
Office Depot and the like, with super large budgets wont get in on the action of on demand 3D printing. Hardware big box stores like
Lowes and
Home Depot will jump in too and offer
3D printing in their one-stop franchises.
Other brands that use a similar system to
Primus, include
Medeco,
Scorpion,
Twin and some other brands.
This realization that your key system is not actually secure as you expected will mean that you will need to find systems that do as intended. Our
Bilock Extreme Security Key Systems are carefully designed to prevent unauthorised duplication and with the introduction of the
13th element, a trigger mechanism that is interactive, 3D printing of a useable key is just not possible (at this time).
Bilock is well known worldwide for being a
premium quality high-security restricted key system that outperforms virtually all other systems. It's unique keyway and pinning system, combined with state of the art side-bar technology and interchangeable core functionality and color coded key heads, makes it a formidable partner in the security of your home and business.
We are the largest provider of
Bilock Systems in the Mid-West, using state of the art master key software to create, design and build our own systems. We have nearly 25 years international experience in the product line and have installed many of the most complex systems to
universities,
hospitals,
private schools,
casino's and
hotels across the world.
(
source...)
