 Good day everybody. I hope I'm well, you can hear me and if I start mumbling a bit more, please remind me of it I'm your bias. I'm a member of tool that work that works. I'm a member of tool Amsterdam I'm the current two-time over Impressioning champion of the Netherlands. I'm the German Meister current and that's actually a big big deal because I'm the second Non-German. I'm the second non-German Whoever won that and Well, that's a big deal. I'm the current world record holder or current world record holder on Impressioning Thank you Impressioning that's what it's all about. We're gonna impression keys and what what is that actually? Impressioning a key impressioning is Filing Blank uncut key to a working key without any prior knowledge of the biting of the of the lock That's basically it. That's what we're gonna try. That's why I have this this this setup I'm I will it will include the demo and I try stuff with the microscope I hope that works so you can actually see what I should be seeing Okay That's wrong. Okay Is this a new thing? Well, actually it's not because this guy Edward tickle Use this technique in the end 70s for FBI black ops well for black ops One of the stories is that they had to go into a building but they obviously did not have a key for otherwise he would be done and what the Fats did they put a big cardboard next to the door with a hole in it and In the cardboard so he start impressioning through the hole and he end up with a working key the fun part of well the the neat part of impressioning opposed to lockpicking is that When you're done, you don't only have a open lock But you have a key which you can give to another operator who is probably not that efficient in Lockpicking or impressioning, but that doesn't matter because he knows how to operate a key That was a bad beat job If anybody knows this guy, I'd like to hook up with because I'd really like to pick his brain But well up till now we didn't find anything about it Besides a documentary and that I really didn't want to show you guys because it's it is in English But it's dubbed over in German. So if I read up that to English, that's gonna be crap okay so in the end 70s it was used in the field and Lockpick community didn't really well I didn't even know if there was a active community at that time But a couple of years ago a member of SS death, which is to in German basically He spent quite a number of months Investigating this technique and he wrote a book on it. So he literally wrote the book on it This is the German cover. There is an English version and That was Oliver Dietrichson and he won the championships a couple of times. So yeah, he yeah, he knows what he's talking about And that's the URL where you can order this book he printed it It's a print on the mom thing. So I don't think it can be ordered anywhere else than there It has very very explainer very clear pictures of it and if you go through that Then you'll you'll know what what actually impression is because initially when I I've seen people do it And I was like, I don't know what they're doing But well in the end they have a working key just after but after I read this book and Well mainly looked at the pictures because that's that's where the most info is then Then you do know for oh, that's what I'm looking for and I hope to could to get a tiny bit of this this body of knowledge over to you guys today and the book has even pictures from the Criminal technical proof lab or that's German for CSI So that they actually gave pictures up for and you probably now haven't got a clue what what you're looking at But maybe afterwards that that's going to be more explained Okay The question is how long can I stand in front of your server room of or the server room from your company or whatever? Without being questioned stops or arrested or whatever That probably will not happen within two seconds Will that happen within one minute? Depends where you work Well ten minutes. I think if I can spend ten minutes at your server room door, then you have other problems But the neat thing about About impressioning is that if the answer to this question is either a or b you're fucked Because I get well, I'm not saying that I can press in any key in a minute I mean, I've done it before but that does not mean I can do it on a head on a on a on a drop of the head but if I but two seconds is enough for one little step in impressioning and In contrary to lock picking where you can open your lock and be done with it If you you can't half open a lock, but you can't half impression a lock you can stop and return later Sorry The friend of mine. He's a pentester and he worked at a At the building with several levels and he worked at five so he was allowed in five. He was not allowed in six If you wanted to go to six you needed a key to override the elevator So he took a blankie into his office and every time he wrote he happened to be alone in the elevator so that's in the morning or not and he he did his tiny little impression thing and worked on that key and in less than two weeks time he had a working key and could go to six level It's kind of neat So how does that actually happen? Well first if you want to know how to impression you have to know how a lock works well, there have been a number of Security conferences and hacker conference where lock picking is explained and probably a lot of you even tried it So I'm gonna go over it very quick because we need that basic info in order to understand depression well, this is a euro cylinder lock and Me being from Europe and this being a European lock. It's configured the European way for a bulk of this crowd That would be upside down That's correct. We're all aware of that fact But thanks, right You're late He's actually the first guy the first non-german who actually well, he's the first non-german who ever won that The German meistership. So he's the he's the first one That one and the lights go out So back again euro config Euro profile So all these initial pictures are for the most of the of this crowd upside down, but then well It's the same Last four words here, sorry if we take Come on if we look at a schematic view of a lock You see a big round yellow thing that actually needs to turn and if it turns we call it open but for some reason it doesn't and you see a other Metal bit which is colored red in this picture. That's probably has something to do with it But we can't really tell that much now. So we go one layer deeper these schematics are actually done by deviant and well, I with permission nick them and I like to use them because they're they're very clear. They're very informative and I can't draw for shit So this picture you see a bit more material in the red and There is a blue piece of metal in play all of a sudden and there's a spring underneath it And we can now see why the yellow bit can't turn because there's blue stuff in the way If you up wrong way, there you go So it's in the way. So if we have a means of getting that out of the way And I wouldn't mind if that happened now, then you can actually open the lock No rocket science at this point But normally a lock is Has more than one pin stack five is a is a very used number six seven fifteen everything is possible depends what you're willing to pay and well basically that To open this in a way that all five pin stacks are at the correct height you need a special customized tool that we call a key and And Then it can turn cost all the Well blue where the blue stops and the red begins that's exactly on the shale line. So the big yellow thing can turn If you put the wrong key in there wrong You see that the fifth Is now too deep and now it's too high and it won't turn in the perfect world if you Put nothing in there and try to turn your cylinder then it won't open like we all know and That won't open because there's several black blue bits of pieces profanity it But we're not in the perfect world we use stuff like this. I mean Cylinder gets drilled in a machine that's mass produced Drills they have wear and tear. They're not aligned correctly Pins well these are actually from Korea and they're really crap, but I mean that's just to get the idea. I mean this is There's there's tolerances and they're they're they're never the same So why is that useful? Because you can't really make a perfect lock and even if you could it would it be way too expensive and not that useful I mean for a normal lock to operate that's that's enough for both For most people so what we try to envision is you see that the five dots on the left side. That's actually up for you. So that that That if you turn it that actually not five of these blue bits are preventing it from turning But one of the blue bits is the first to prevent it from turning. So if I would be able to To take the second pin stack and put it down to the correct level then another blue bit would be preventing it So basically we try to look at a five pin lock at as five locks concerning Just containing one pin stack That's basically Because if it's not turning because the blue bits in the way and if we do Yes Sorry Yeah, because if we do put that pin stack down then the cylinder will turn just a very slight angle and Until the next blue bit starts preventing it from turning But the neat part is that now this blue bit won't be won't be pushed back by the spring because there's bits of yellow in the way So that's cool So what we can do with that is picking a lock After this done with lock picking and we're gonna impression So you gonna feel and wiggle and to see which bits are Have more Give less of a sorry, sorry Have a different give than the other ones. So you can feel which is stuck and which it isn't and that's lock picking you can use basic tools for that you can get a bit of lock pick village and Well cool stuff. So this is lock picking and It also works on different keys because this is still pin stacks. It's the same. Just just they're arranged in a different way Now Yeah, let's skip that doesn't want to skip that. That's not me is Yeah Impressioning there you go Impressioning well now you see that's in non-European conflict all of a sudden because that's the way I like to impression It's not that I was too lazy to flip the Picture no, I'm not well, I am that lazy but in this case I this is the way I like to impression and because this if I mounted the key like the lock like that that takes about four seconds off of my opening time and During some competitions four seconds is a lot and yes Because what you do with impressioning is you start off with a non-cut blank So the same blank that would be hang that would hang at a locksmith that you need several of but One thing is the key has to fit into the lock not turn it because that would be a key, but you Yeah, then you're done That used to yelling So what you do now is if you apply the same that we learned during the lock picking bit If you turn this lock it won't open because there's a bit in the way Because we now have filled up the whole space where the key belongs is no longer the blue parts, but the red parts But the idea is the same But now because there's a bit chunk of metal where your key is supposed to be you can turn it left and right So now it's one bit in the way, but if you turn the other way, hopefully it's another so we have two places where Pins are preventing the lock from turning and that's good Yep because if we turn it ever so slightly and Try to wiggle the key up or down and you don't have that much give But I mean you can move it a bit because if it would fit perfectly. There's no way you can get your key in I mean Especially not after few drinks. So that there is there is a give and so if you look at this picture and Once in a while it moves then you see that the pins that are not stuck They just get moved up and down because the only thing that's holding them down is the springs and Gravity and the other two So now it's the pin 2 and now it's the pin 4 They get stuck. So if you put a Key under it and apply some force you're pushing at a point now if you afterwards if you take it out and Examine it very closely. I mean with microscope or Magnifier special lights or normal light Then you might if you're lucky see little scratches dense impressioning marks on that blank. I Don't know if I'm not sure if you can all see it, but you see there that they It's two bits have been drawn At and is this any is this viewable for anyone? Okay, cool. So you're looking for very tiny marks and the first time you see them does make sense But you eventually do get used to Well to recognize them. So what we do then at that spot where we see marks We take away a bit of material the key is a bit and key was not pun intended It wasn't Because if you know your brand of luck, then you know what the the normal key depths what the possible key depths are and You can start off with the the highest in this conflict the highest The highest possible biting if you found your key off to that biting then you know you have to go one step down and that speeds up the process considerably in In Europe all the impressioning games are currently done on a particular Abus cylinder So we know that lock. We know what steps are and we develop muscle memory for just that lock So if I have to impression an American lock that I haven't tried yet And I probably won't be that fast, but well, I know the technique. So we'll see what happens So that's not a working key at all. So it's rinse and repeat. So we do that again so go left go right and There's a mark at the valleys. We just created So we're gonna take even more of yes Yes, so we make it even deeper Well, you guess what's what's what's gonna happen now. We're gonna do it again But if you look at the fourth pin and we start normally counting from the shoulder to to the nose That pin is on the correct height which means that if we turn this lock and Consider the lock as not one lock with five pins, but five locks with one pin Then lock number four is open already that would turn so You probably can't feel it when you turn it But it does turn a bit further because that one was Preventing it for locking and now it's another one that that'll stay in place. So if you start wiggling now Well on pin number two, there still be a mark because that was the first one Preventing it from turning but at the number four is now out of play. So another position will start giving dense Because that's the one that's correct Yep, so other places that we dance and in the end you will come up with a awful-looking thing like this, but that's a working key if you look at this one the Lower one is impression It looks like a shark bites, but if you look at the actual heights between The the the top key and the bottom one that one works It might feel a bit funny, but it turns so that's it and if you're if you're good at it you win prices and Now it's time to go a demo so I can shut up Okay, I actually gonna do two demos I Hope well you guys gonna see my back the most of the time But sorry about that because I'm gonna sit down for this and then I'm gonna do the same demo again But step by step and I explain what I'm doing. So this one is just well on speed out It's good to not talk for a second different lights What? That's correct. It's me demoing here So that's why I'm gonna do it again Well Whoa that you could hear working key Okay, so now I'm gonna do the same lock again and at every step I'm gonna tell what I'm doing I'm gonna try to show what I'm looking at and well if I hope that's clear then So first I need to Put in a new blank I'm gonna switch this it looks weird now, but that'll be better once I put a key on it That's an abu's Normally if you see me impressioning it's an abu's Okay, I put a cheapo cheapo handle on your on your key so I can turn it a bit Then I'm gonna use this special tool that that will be later in the slides also That just makes tiny scratches on it. So I know where I start fall where I need to start falling Well a blank key looks like this. So it's not completely Is that anything yep, okay? So that's without the tool and after I yank the tool over it you look look like this you see a dot There's one over there and If you go a bit further There's one There's the next Now it's even worse even better see So at that point I haven't touched luck yet at that point. I know where to start filing because I know this Brand of luck so I know what the highest possible cut is Well, if I'm done with it. Yes, if they're out of the box, they're not they're a bit higher Okay, so now it looks like this you see that where I filed It's less rough it's way finer Which is actually good because it's easier to see marks on that smooth area Let's see. Let's try to make a good one Yeah, I'm a bit off, but that's okay. I see on oops Well, there is a spot there. I'll try to get it to focus, but it's where my cursor is now Now you see it you see Okay, so at that point I take off one depth and I know how to take off one depth. Normally you can use Calipers to actually check how deep you are so now Windsor repeat do it again Again on number two. Okay Okay, we'll do You see there's a spot there there now you see it Yep, it's clear so Put it in turn it left Up down up down up down turn it right up down up that up that up down. That's it Yeah, I mean, it's it's training. No rocket size That's your position number one that's position number two where again we see a dot There it is and I saw on the last position I saw so one that's not that clear Actually more clear here than there So I'm going to take off One step at number five and one step at number two And we have an overlap. Well, you this doesn't get amplified, but it doesn't want to and if you look at it closely You'll see that the pins are actually jammed So that one that's a we call that a crater mark for obvious reasons so if I clean it up to take it just You can see bits of company well better working key So now if this would have been a black up I just give Okay When I submitted this slide deck to Defconn for well to put on the CD. I didn't have Sorry Yeah You go I Didn't have this slide deck ready, but there is a slide deck on there That's that's quite looks like this, but it's not complete Because last night in my hotel room. I added quite a lot of slides. I Yeah, you get stupid sometimes and What I did is to do that impressioning and to get some footage that you just saw But took stills of it and they're at the back of my presentation So if you download it afterwards, then that should be viewable Okay over the years because there has been Well, there has been competitions Longer than well, there have been a couple of years competitions in Germany and in the this is working That's the reason There they have a competition in Germany and and in Holland And if you look at the opening times the best opening times during those competitions, you see a drop So how's that possible? And that's not just because I started competing We have better gear and we learned and trained more and What is the gear that you need actually it's it's it's not that fancy What you need is as a training at a caliper But for that to be useful you need to know your possible levels can be found online all this book has a whole chart of it and Well, mostly They should be like that. So it can be found online. I like the Couplin on the right because you can do it quite fast and you can put marks on it that are not as Useful on a normal caliper But you can go with a normal one. I mean to to keep the budget low because that crouplin is quite expensive oops They need file We used several files for this and it's it it it I'm gonna I think this is less feedback less cozy We use Well, the guys that I know that that normally use it is a coupling Cut number for Swiss file and you can have several sizes of it because size does matter Yes, it does That also is useful. I mean to training is Training is key, but size also. So Well, we use this but I use this I Use a red tail which means that it's shaped like that You have also Pippin files and if they they are more drop shape I personally don't like them, but I know a lot of locksmith who swear by them I mean that they they really want that one. It's it's perfect personal preferences. I mean I Go with it with mine And a good file is not cheap But if you treat it well, that'll get you well Years and years of fun because yeah, I had once that a a key broke off during a game And that's weird. Do you don't want to have that that? No still are like you need a vice to hold your luck Probably a door will do also, but That's what it's there for it Didn't do nothing. I'm not gone You can use Any other vice that you like as long as it doesn't delay Well, any vice will do but I use my photo super clamps that that's the one on the right and Well, they work for me perfect because swivel the way I want it and well, basically they look the part So that's why I have any light. So if you want to take the left one to a conference You can't have any other luggage. Well, yeah And you need a shitload of blanks Because the first time you're going to try this you will break blanks if you're not you're not doing it correctly because Training will cost you blanks a ton of them. So get them somewhere cheap. I mean your local locksmith will have This word your local locksmith will have will have blanks But they're probably going to sell him to you for the normal rate that he sells Cut blanks. So if you need 200 of them, it's going to be expensive So make sure to get them somewhere else or at least in bulk Brass keys are seem to be the best because they make nice markings on a steel key. So some some are made of steel You don't get markings and if you switch to aluminum or or any other lighter materials and they tend to break so The the middle of the road type being brass seems to work out the best You need some form of magnification the one I had here is a cheapo cheapo nothing fancy normal light You can have the one on the left is quite fun for fieldwork It's a add-on to a mag light. That's normally initially that was used for Geologists to look at tiny rocks, but it works with Impressioning also and there is a light box available on the bottom right that one is actually crap But I like the idea It has a magnifier on top of it and you can there's several switches where you can alter the lights So it has UV normal light leds, whatever and so it's it's neat, but well this one isn't and There's well just yesterday. I got pictures of the toolkit the kit from two That had even another light that I never seen before and this morning. I had the first opportunity to play for it And I like it. I'm probably not gonna use it in competitions because this is fast, but it fulfilled work Yeah, I think it's it's maybe even better than the one with the Mac light attached to it You need some form of gripping device because the forces you're gonna put on your key You don't want to do that by hand you can't There are several Commercial products to actually do that. The one on the left is quite popular I know a couple of guys who also use that. I like it. Also It's light and I like light You can use a normal grip and I had just had a Hunk of metal with a couple of holes drilled in it There was a lot of snagel sailed for impressioning handles because once I got a handle that was I don't know Eddie quit something like that It failed the first time I used it. I mean there is some stuff if it's over the engineered at this point You don't need it. I have a other tool that I didn't use now because it's it's a visual aid that I Especially when I started training I used a lot. I used a internal core cylinder and I filed it off The fun part is if you stick a key in there You can see where your Where the marks should appear because that they would be in the middle of my phalanx So because normally if you file and you see a mark You get is that a real mark? Did I do that? Is that sad? Is that a filing mistake? But if it's that smack in the middle of where it's supposed to be and this visual aid helps you by the To determine if that's the right spot and it's probably a mark you can file So that's also cheapo cheapo Solution This is a tool that was custom-made by your snub. That's the tool. I Initially used to get the the markings on the key so I know where I can start filing. Okay now if you try this when you looked at Defiled key that looked like if a if a shark took a bite of it those edges are actually quite sharp You will cut yourself. I mean that's gonna happen, especially if you're in a competition and it has to open now That stuff goes wrong. I mean one of the first competitions I entered in Germany The first lock that I had to give back to the judges that was read and it was not read when I when I got it It wasn't and the files are also quite pointy So sometimes stuff will go wrong and on the longer term because You are making quite a weird movement So couple tunnel is is definitely on the horizon that that's that's gonna happen and you guys all be an IT and me also You don't really want that doing it off doing this after a game of golf is also not funny because You need to turn wiggle and Grip that gives a lot of stress in your muscles so I spoke with a occupational therapist who happens to be my girlfriend and speak to her quite often actually and We figured out that if I take longer screws in my grip because these were initially when I got this It was nice and smooth Because yes, it's handmade, but not I mean I Took the original screws out and put these long ones in so now I can use them as a lever So I take one hand for the turning action and The other hand for the up and down motion and that's way easier And you don't and in that way you don't grip it also which releases a lot of stress that so I think that's the best way Well, like I told you there is a tool set on the market. It's available at the vendor area and in the log pick village this consists 70 of the this is primarily focused on the American public Because this was consist of 70 blanks that are the most Common in America and the funny part is that in America we you don't guys have that many key ways in Europe There's a bigger diversity. I mean key ways goes like that and in America. It tends to be straight down. So These probably will not fit Will not only fit the seven Most popular brands that are used, but it probably will fit way more There's a little light in there The top one it's a very tiny little light source with a magnifier in it and well, I love but I never Well used it in the competition or something it and it has a grow bed file, which is the brand I prefer So I'm up stoked about that one and that's basically it for more info there's well You can read that online also The other guys that really helped me and well any questions