Duplicating Keys via Distant Digital Images
Beware of flashing your keys in public.
Computer scientists at the University of California at San Diego have developed software that can make a duplicate of a key from just a distant photo of it using technology available to almost anyone.
Referred to as Sneakey, the system is capable of "teleduplication--extracting a key's complete and precise bitting code at a distance via optical decoding and then cutting precise duplicates," according to Sneakey's Web site.
Part of the project's mission is to make people realize that traditional keys are not really as safe as they might think. Relatively modest technology is now capable of the imaging and computer vision algorithms necessary to duplicate an image precisely, according to the group.
To illustrate the point, they photographed a set of keys they casually placed on the table at a cafe from about 195 feet away using a telephoto lens.