Did you know that most heavy equipment on construction sites are “keyed alike”? This means that a SINGLE key for a backhoe from a specific manufacturer will work for ALL backhoes from that manufacturer.
But wait, it gets better! Often, that one key will work for ALL MACHINES created by that manufacturer.
For example: the Caterpillar key that you can buy on the internet for less than $10 will work for most Caterpillar heavy equipment! Yes! It’s all the same key! Read the review on this post or ask literally any one of your friends that have worked on a construction site before.
But why is heavy equipment “keyed alike”? Imagine if every single heavy equipment machine had a unique key. Can you imagine the nightmare that would ensue because Josh left the backhoe keys at home and now the entire construction plan is set back an entire day? It’s much easier to have all the keys keyed alike. It’s not like someone would just drive off the site with a backhoe, right?
When doing physical penetration testing, it might be useful for you to buy Tornado’s set of 100 heavy equipment keys. They usually cover every single machine that doesn’t have require an RFID chip or some other ignition code (modern machines are being developed with higher security, but the bulk of what is near you is probably old).