We all agree that 3D printing will change the world and change the very concept of manufacturing, but it isn’t just working for the good people. Criminals are also making use of 3D printing and they’re getting increasingly creative according to a paper by security consultants G4Us.
Cargo theft is one of the biggest concerns and it’s easy to see why.
Every single day, companies move massive amounts of high-value products. They are new, they are boxed and they are ready to sell. That’s the point.
The most popular targets
That makes them a highly attractive target for thieves. Food and drink are the most popular targets, because once they’re out of their containers then they are exceptionally hard to trace and they are easy to sell on the black market. Electronics are the second most popular items, followed by home and garden products.
Crimes like this are as old as the hills. Native Americans pillaged supplies as they travelled across country, cowboys stole shipments and highway robbery is a phrase all of its own.
So how has 3D printing made it easier?
In the modern world, with thousands of shipments leaving a port or depot each and every day, we have come to rely on systems. These often include a security seal or a specific lock on each container. High security cargo seals, built to ISO 17712 specification and high security padlocks have become an industry all of their own.
3D printing could ruin this system
For years this has been an effective system, but 3D printing is changing all of that. Now, an organised gang with access to a depot or storage facility could remove the seal, steal the goods inside, print a new seal and be gone without a trace in an hour.
This would have taken a computer operator skilled in CAD design, a bulky desktop scanner and an equally substantial commercial grade printer just a few years ago. Now the thieves could take the equipment with them and produce perfectly acceptable copies that would stand up to all but the closest inspection on site.
Last year a Swiss freight forwarding and logistics firm only uncovered the theft of an expensive load of pharmaceutical goods after the security seals were removed at the unloading point. The fake replacements were numbered correctly, they were close to the right colour and they were the right shape. These parts were either made with inside knowledge or they were made on the spot.
Even TSA keys aren’t sacred
Of course sometimes people have to be able to access containers and the Transportation Security Administration insists on being able to access everything from luggage to imported goods as they enter the USA. The TSA master key is the Holy Grail for thieves, with one of these they could simply open anything that comes to the US.
Last year, a newspaper printed a photograph of the master key. Shortly afterwards, a set of CAD files were posted online and anybody with a 3D printer could suddenly open anything that was fitted with a TSA-compliant lock.
Bump keys can also be created with a 3D printer that open virtually any lock with the help of a hammer. All it takes is a 3D printer, so the technology is clearly helping the criminals make great strides.
So while the industry strives to create best practices, there are a vast number of potentially weak links in any supply chain, ranging from the drivers and security teams through to the transport hub themselves. These are all opportunities for hardened criminals.
What can we do?
G4Us makes a number of recommendations that range from risk assessments of any third party supplier or partner and analysis of shipping method through to stripping logos from containers and trucks.
Companies should also change security seal colours and types often. They should train staff to look for counterfeit seals and even revert to microdot markings on the seals themselves that criminals may not think to include in their copies.
It’s clear that the advance of 3D printing is going to do a great deal of good but, as with everything, there are people determined to use it to do a lot of bad things too.
