Howard Payne & Deviant Ollam - This Key is Your Key, This Key is My Key
DeviantOllam3 HN recommenders · recommended in 3 months, 2017–2021
talk · general · evergreen · 2017–2021 on HN
A HOPE conference talk by Howard Payne and Deviant Ollam on common keys, such as elevator and fire service keys, that open many buildings. It covers physical security weaknesses from shared key standards.
Brought up in threads on elevators and locks as an engaging talk on common keys.
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4 comments from Hacker News
Relevant video discussing fire keys and other common keys: ▶ this video And since this thread is about elevators, I have to also mention another video of theirs: link
I've watched it twice before. I also recommend "This key is your key, this key is my key" ▶ this video Deviant is a pentester focused on physical sec. Not just elevators.
I realise the thread is phone phreaking related and that was kind of the point of your post; but in the spirit of the talk below to think more outside the box... There's a pretty good chance in many cases you can just open the external box with some easy to get (and relatively standard) key. And hit a button. Related: link This is a good related talk - goes outside the box on all the ways you can often get into commercial buildings without picking (or even in many cases, interacting with) the lock "The Search for the Perfect Door" by Deviant Ollam link Also good: ▶ this video [Howard Payne & Deviant Ollam - This Key is Your Key, This Key is My Key] link [DEF CON 22 - Deviant Ollam & Howard Payne - Elevator Hacking - From the Pit to the Penthouse]
The moral equivalent of "admin,password" happens all the time with physical locks. With physical goods, the key is often sold with a default bitting. (Which is the data embodied in the key equivalent to the password.) That's because just ordering the default is often cheaper, and the contractor will often just opt for the cheapest option. It wouldn't surprise me if this also happened with combination locks. ▶ this video