Unauthorised Access: Physical Penetration Testing For IT Security Teams

Chapter 5. Lock Picking

Rogues knew a good deal about lock-picking long before locksmiths discussed it among themselves, as they have lately done. If a lock, let it have been made in whatever country, or by whatever maker, is not so inviolable as it has hitherto been deemed to be, surely it is to the interest of honest persons to know this fact, because the dishonest are tolerably certain to apply the knowledge practically; and the spread of the knowledge is necessary to give fair play to those who might suffer by ignorance."

—Locks and Safes: The Construction of Locks: A. C. Hobbs, 1853

This chapter discusses the black art that is lock picking. This is a skill I urge everyone reading this book to learn (if only because it's a lot of fun). If you're a member of an operating team engaged in physical penetration testing, it is something you will need to master and mastery involves a lot of practice. You can read as many books or watch as many instructional videos as you like, but until you're facing your first lock with picks in hand you haven't started learning.

Lock picking is a catch all term to describe the circumnavigation and opening of a locking mechanism without using a key. There are at least as many ways to do this as there are types of lock. Although, of course, some are more relevant to this book than others are. For all intents and purposes, a cheap pin tumbler lock opened with traditional lock picks and an expensive Winkhaus Blue Chip electronic lock opened with magnets ...