Monday, July 18, 2011

Lock Bumping Working Parts for Bump Keys

In order for a High Security lock to earn the UL listing High Security locks on front door in San Clemente Gated homes to fight lock bumping , a lock or cylinder must meet strict construction guidelines and a sample model must pass rigorous performance and attack tests. Some of the requirements are as follows:

All working parts of the mechanism must be constructed of brass, bronze, stainless steel, or equivalent corrosion-resistant materials or have a protective finish complying with UL’s Salt Spray Corrosion test.
Have at least 1000 key changes
Operate as intended during 10,000 complete cycles of operation at a rate not exceeding 50 cycles per minute.
The lock must not open or be compromised as a result of attack tests using hammers, chisels, screwdrivers, jaw-gripping wrenches, pliers, hand-held electic drills, saws, puller mechanisms, key impressioning tools, and picking tools.
The attack test includes 10 minutes of picking, 10 minutes of key impressioning, 5 minutes of forcing, 5 minutes of drilling, 5 minutes of sawing, 5 minutes of prying, 5 minutes of pulling and 5 minutes of driving.

Another important factor in lock bumping security is key control. The most secure locks have patented key blanks that are available only from the lock manufacturer. At the next level of key control are key blanks that can be cut only on special key machines. This type of key control greatly reduces the number of places where an unauthorized person can have a key duplicated. The least secure locks use keys that can be copied at virtually any hardware or department store. To learn more about lock bumping and high security locks you can visit this link to Amazon and purchase The Complete Book of Locks and Locksmithing

Lock bumping might be referred to as lock picking’s lesser known cousin. It’s an unfamiliar term at best. It is, however, at least as big a problem as lock picking, and perhaps even more sinister for what it entails. Bumping is a type of lock picking. Instead of using typical lock picking tools though, all that is required is the use of a lock box by real estate agents to protect against  bump key use in San Clemente homes.. It has, for this reason, the potential to be much more sinister than lock picking.
One of the biggest problems is that few locks are immune from lock bumping. This is because most locks work on the same principle. The most common type of lock, found on every home and business in the world, is the pin-and-tumbler lock. To understand how lock bumping works, it helps to understand how a pin and tumbler system functions.
Inside every pin and tumbler lock is a cylinder (or key cylinder.) Within the cylinder is a chamber (the plug) containing stacks of pins. The pins it contains vary in length. When the correct key is inserted into the cylinder, the ridges or teeth on the key match the pins inside. Rotating the key causes the pins to spring apart and the plug to rotate. This rotation releases the latch from the door jamb.
Trying to insert the wrong key will produce one of two results. Either the key will not enter the cylinder at all, or, it will enter the cylinder, but won’t be able to rotate the plug because the match is incorrect.

Old-school lock picking usually requires a broad range of tools. Lock bumping, in contrast, requires only one special key. A lock bump key looks like an ordinary door key. It would be unlikely to draw any suspicion, were it to be used to gain illegal entry to a home.
To the untrained eye, a bump key might pass for a regular key. A closer inspection, though, would reveal that the teeth (or ridges) and the notches are even. All of the cuts, in fact, are made to maximum depth. They may also be referred to as “dummy keys” or “999″ keys. The number “999″ is derived from the fact that the cuts are all made to a depth of nine.
Opening a door lock with a 999 key isn’t as simple as simply inserting and turning. It does take a particular feel and a certain degree of practice, just as old-fashioned lock picking does.
What is alarming about bump keys is that only two tools are required: a 999 key and a small “bump tool.” A would-be criminal will draw much less attention to himself with a bump key than with a set of locksmithing tools.

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