Friday, November 14, 2014

Why the Valet Needs to be Background Checked, or A Cell Phone Key Machine

Your metal key can be duplicated just by snapping a photo of it with a cell phone.

Leaving your keys unsecured is like writing your passwords on post-it notes. If it can be seen, it can be stolen.
  • Have you ever left your keys with a valet or parking garage attendant?
  • Does your administrative assistant leave keys for everything in an open desk?
  • Every loan a key to a friend, even just for a minute?
If so, you may want to re-key your lock. 


from Wired Magazine...
"My neighbor lives on the second floor of a Brooklyn walk-up, so when I came to his front door he tossed me a pair of keys rather than walk down the stairs to let me in. I opened the door, climbed the stairs, and handed his keys back to him. We chatted about our weekends. I drank a glass of water. Then I let him know that I would be back soon to gain unauthorized access to his home.

Less than an hour later, I owned a key to his front door.

What I didn’t tell my neighbor was that I spent about 30 seconds in the stairwell scanning his keys with software that would let me reproduce them with no specialized skills whatsoever."


Yikes! How did he do it?!?!
In this case, Key.Me made a key using the photos he took.


Spybusters Security Tip # 736: Add your keys to your private-parts list. Show them only to those you trust.