'Lock Bumping' Threatens Home Security

By Dave Franzman, Reporter

Tools

By Becky Ogann

Story Created: Feb 8, 2007 at 6:48 PM CST

Story Updated: Feb 8, 2007 at 9:28 PM CST

CEDAR RAPIDS - You've probably never heard the term "lock bumping." But it's a potential real threat to your home security.

Believe it or not there are "how to" videos all over the internet showing "lock bumping." We won't show you how to do it, but we'll tell you enough to make you think about your home security.

In one video, an 11-year-old girl taps on the kind of lock you find on 99 percent of home doors. She popped it open in seconds. One Coe College student who watched was a bit uneasy.

“My house is 10 seconds from being broken into right now,” said Joshua Zingher.

Locksmiths like Doug Chadima from John's Lock and Key have heard the recent Internet chatter about lock bumping. The technique uses a blank key cut in a special way that we won't show you.

It slips in and it won't turn.

The altered key, by itself, won't turn the lock. But hit or bump it in the right way and the lock springs open, and even an amateur can learn it.

“When you sit and think about what's going on inside the lock like I do, not very shocked, not that hard to do,” said Chadima.

Chadima says bumping is a crude form of the kind of lock-picking work he does with specialized tools. More expensive locks can resist "bumping," and he's even had one customer inquire after seeing all the "how to's" on the Internet.

I checked with local law enforcement, and no one could remember any lock bumping burglars.

Most burglars don't even try to pick locks. Instead they simply break a door or window.

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