LOCK-PICKING DEMONSTRATION
This is a lock and you can see how it works. There is the inner cylinder - this inner piece, and there is an outer cylinder, which is the shell of the lock. And of course this is opened up, it's not usually visible. Inside there are springs and there are two types of pins. There's the outer pin and the inner pins. Now these inner pins are called key-pins and they are moved by the key as it goes into the lock. As you can see if the key is fully in, all the keys are fully in position, they are all lined up and the breaks between the outer and the inner pin are on the line between the outer and the inner cylinder.
This is a cylinder lock and the lock has an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder. The outer cylinder is the shell of the lock and the inner cylinder is supposed to turn, but only if you insert the right key. Now if I insert it half way you see it won't turn. Now if I insert it the full way, you see it turns.
Now how does this work? This is an opened up version. Little slits in here show you the inside. If you can see there are spring and pins..if you insert the key then all the pins are moved...so the lock turns. That's the pins, so only the correct key will open the lock....almost. What I have here is a complete set of lock picks. Lock picking tools. And what I can do, is, I can try, it wont work, but I can try to open this lock by placing the pins in the right position. I can feel the tension of the lock. Normally you cant look inside. What I can do is I can find the pin that binds because pins are never perfect. One is always first to bind, whoops, I lost that one..of course it will never work, cause it's a demonstration! Now at least in theory, oh, now we see how it gets difficult. There are tricks with this lock that make it difficult to lock-pick, but once you get good at it, you can open locks with just these 2 tools.
This tool here is called a tensioner and its function is to put tension on the lock, as its name implies. And this is a rake, also called a finger pick, I can use it to manipulate each pin in the lock separately. There are alot of other techniques I won't go into now but there are lots of ways to open a lock without the correct tool, the key.
What is the connection between Hackers and Lockpicking?
I think that most hackers are at least interested in locks and other forms of physical security because they resemble security in the digital domain so much. There's so much, so many parallels between the way a computer is secured, a computer network is secured and the way buildings are secured. There's also the finding of weak spots, the industry trying to get rid of weak spots, making better locks, and also the industry trying to hide the fact that some locks that are very popular are not good and can be opened by anybody without any particular knowledge with just the right tool. So you see all these same mechanisms that work in the computer security field also work in the physical security field and its also just as interesting. You have this mechanism and it's sold as a high security lock, supposed not to be able to be opened by anybody and so you hold it and you look at it and you open it a few times and you go hey! I have a trick to open this lock without the key, or i have way to at least make it easier to open this lock without a key. And its the same feeling you get if you get into a computer system that's supposed to be really secure.
Why are you interested in lock-picking?
I don't know I think everybodies motivation for breaking into computers or seeing how locks work, everybodies motivation is different. It's important that people are interested, that independent people outside the lock industry or people that break into peoples houses for profit, that there are people that are interested in finding out how locks work and telling the public which locks are good and which locks are not, because the are the only independent source that is willing to talk.
The UA Guide to Lock-picking Resources
