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Steel Bolt Hacking
The beginning of the book discusses the origins of lock-picking sporting groups, crews in the U.S and Europe, competition around the country, and how to become a part of a lock-picking group. One of the groups out of Colorado Springs, DC719, are a bunch of computer geeks that have taken up the art of lock picking and sponsor a lock-picking contest every year at DefCon. According to Mr. Chick, computer people are the fastest group to pick up the art of lock picking. (I must warn you though, there are also a lot of disclaimers about the author not being responsible for the misuses of the information contained in this book.)
The book is fully illustrated with pictures of different types of lock picking instruments, tools to make your own picks as well as padlocks, deadbolt, and combination locks. There are pictures of locks that have been cut open and even how to crack push-button combination locks. (You know, the kind you find on the door to a server room.) I have to say, for a little book, (114 pages) it is brimming with valuable information for a beginner. What I didn't realize was that software isn't the only thing that has security vulnerabilities; mechanical things like padlocks and deadbolts do as well. What was scary to learn is how easy cheap locks can be picked, and that 80 percent of all locks used are cheap locks. Expensive locks are just likely to take a little longer.
I liked that the book didn't exaggerate. It didn't tell me that I was going to be a master lock picker after only a few tries. It took a little time, practice and sore fingers, but after a couple weeks of practice, I could pick every lock in my house. And as a computer person, I liked all of the jargon that was used to explain locksmith techniques. There was also enough humor to keep the book interesting; it's difficult to read any type of textbook and still maintain a reasonable interest. The illustrations are good and there is a resource section to purchase the tools you need from the Internet.
What I didn't like about the book: The most annoying point, I felt, is the considerable redundancy in methods between different types of locks to be picked. Also, the book suggests that there might be a lock-picking group in every city in the U.S., when in fact I am having a difficult time finding one in my are. And I live near D.C. -- You'd think there would be one on every corner around here. I think that the sport is still in its infancy and Mr. Chick is hoping his book will draw more people to it. The author put his e-mail address on the back of the book. He hasn't responded to my e-mail yet, but I suppose that he's probably a busy man.
All in all, I found the book informative, entertaining and worth the purchase price of 19.99.
You can purchase Steel Bolt Hacking from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Mod parent up. I got into it a long time ago, and found out when you take trips to certain states/districts, leave the picks at home!
Sigh. How far from cyberpunk dystopia are we now?
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
Locks just like security fixes and such only make it more difficult for someone to break in. We've covered the kensington lock vulnerability before here: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/09/021822 5&tid=172&tid=184&tid=1
Ultimately everything is hackable, hard and software, by those who have too much time and a little knowhow.
It just sure is nice to be one of those people.
Pick up a copy of "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!"
It's a good quick ready and talks about his lock picking and safe cracking while working on the Manhattan projcet at Los Alamos.
Or read about it here
www.bannination.com Two things float to the top he
Yeah, that's why I try not to buy books like this one over the internet... nor use my credit card / B&N "member" card when buying it in person.
When my father died, he left some important papers in a locked drawer in his file cabinet. The key was nowhere to be found. But the drawer above it had no lock. I just removed that one.
Older Steelcase desks with a center drawer actuated locking mechanism could be opened (well, except for the center drawer itself) by just reaching behind that drawer and lifting up the lever that locked all the others.
I always love watching people secure their Clubs to their steering wheels and feel so secure. What has happened is thieves bypass the Club and hacksaw the steering wheel itself. Steering wheel broken, slide Club through hole, no more club!!
Actually, you don't have to prove you're not intending to commit a crime. That's the beauty of innocent until proven guilty.
They could still make your life a living hell just by trying to prove it, though, so your harassment statement stands. Eep!
I heard that rumour too. But let's face it provided you don't go carrying them around in the utility belt of your black catsuit right next to the grappling winch and pocket arc cutter you're not going to be arrested. And if it's just a hobby you won't be carrying them around anyway.
My appreciation of Douglas Adams is far deeper than yours.
"This seems sort of ridiculous to me...how can they outlaw lockpicks? They're just tools--it's like outlawing crowbars because they're afraid someone will use them for evil."
Seriously? This is how: "They", which is Us, get sufficiently fed up with break-ins and theft that we pass laws to reduce it.
And crowsbars *are* outlawed in certain circumstances. Check your local. There may well be one on the books about "break and enter tools". It'll have time and place restrictions on it. It's designed so that when the patrol officers grab a punk with pry bars out back of your house at 1 a.m., they've got something that'll stick on him immediately. While not nailing the tradesman getting home from sealing up a window smashed by a brick downtown.
Can it be abused? You bet! That's why you have lawyers and court overview as part of the system. Or we did. And there's the real issue about laws today: awful lot without court overview lately. That's insane.
I don't wish to be rude, but you sound rather young. Or live in a very nice area. In the latter case check to see if you have those laws and consider that they may well be part of the reason you've got such peace of mind.
With all the side discussion about "Ok, what's the best way to secure my house", there's something important to remember.
:)
Namely, that there *is* such a thing as being too secure.
Morons who install kevlar window screens, lexan-backed sheetrock, and 50000 spider locks with cross-beams on each door all seem to forget a simple concept -
Some day, your house (or apartment) will have a fire in it. When that happens, you might need to get out of that structure, through those windows, through those doors. And when you can't (because the fire's been going for a good 4 minutes, there is no visibility, and you're dizzy from the phosgenes, monoxides, and methyl-ethyl-badshits in the atmosphere), the fire dept will need to get IN through those windows, through those doors, and breach through those walls to try to find you, or your kids. Once found, the nearest exit (a window) won't be useable; it's "too secure". They can either wait 9 minutes for an outside crew to find and defeat the "window security" (usually via k12 or chainsaw) and hopefully not run out of air during the wait, or the crew will need to drag the victims through the worst areas of the structure (corridors), exposing them to even higher concentrations of ambient death at 800+ degrees, in order to reach a viable egress point. Either way, it's not going to be a rescue. It'll be a recovery... unless the crew fails to abandon you when they're low on air; then it'll be a dead crew as well.
So, when you think about securing your house, understand that some day it can kill you (along with any crew that's trying to reach you, since they can get just as trapped by this bullshit once inside). Understand that you're making this tradeoff, and understand that this tradeoff won't seem worth it when that time finally comes.
Something to think about, at least - meanwhile, back to that book review
help me i've cloned myself and can't remember which one I am
Medeco is the most widespread "good" lock. They use a "2-dimensional" scheme where the pins have to be rotated to the right angle in addition to being at the right height. The key bumps are beveled, as are the pins, and unless they match, a sidebar can't slide in to release the cylinder.
Another (which I own) is Mul-T-Lock, which uses 5 sets of two concentric pins, and a horizontal (actually just flat) instead of a vertical keyway. One locksmith I talked to said he'd once managed to pick a Medeco after playing with it for about ten hours in his office, but it's basically not a risk.
That said, the real value of these locks isn't pick-resistance, since almost no one picks locks anyway. The real benefit is that they have features to resist drilling, longer bolts, anti-sawing bolts, and so forth. They also have keys that can't be duplicated except with special equipment, and then only by licensed dealers who will require you to provide the id card that came with the lock. So the valet won't be able to make a copy of your house keys at the corner hardware store.
In general, people only pick locks if they don't want you to know they've broken in.
So this american guy (the president) says to this french guy (also the president), "hey dude we're going to use our awesome military might to impose democracy on an arab nation (Iraq), want to join in?" And the french guy says, "No thanks buddy, we tried it already and it didn't work! (Algeria)". And the american dude gets all bent out of shape and says "bite me, you cowardly french dude". And the french guy says "Whatever, but its a real bad idea, we know this from experience" And the american dude gets more bent out of shape and says "bite me, you cowardly french dude".
Get it now?
Those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it.
None of them can see the clouds; The polished wings don't care.
Can we PLEASE stop fixing the word 'hacking' to the hobby of ones choice where it really REALLY holds no relevance?! Hey, tonight I'm microwave hacking, so what sort of TV dinner would you like? We can talk about the sky hacking I'll be doing with my friend's RC plane over the weekend. What? You'll be doing some lawn hacking with your mower? Too bad. After our sky hacking session we were going to do some car hacking and put a spoiler ON MY DAMN CAR.
Using this word superfluously is starting to take on the characteristics of the word 'kool'; You sound like you have an IQ of 5, so give it a freakin' rest already.
You need a FREE iPod Nano
When I tried to redeem the "lock guarantee" or whatever that ridiculous thing is called, they called me a liar. They said I didn't lock it properly or some such.
It is standard practice, for insurance companies for example, to initially state that the claim is denied (for some given reason).
You need to push the issue and threaten legal action to get them to pay up.
These companies try the first tack, because MANY people just give up there and then. It never gets to a legal point because it is not worth it for them. If you are right and you push the issue, you will probably get your money.
While the relevance is good, I'm guessing they don't sell many locks on that page.
On the contrary, they probably sell lots of locks to people practicing their lock-picking.
Those are true dipshits. Not anarchists. Anarchists shouldn't be jealous of other peoples' material possessions. If they are, then they are increasing the scope of those who oppress them.
Great. Destroy someones' bicycle. Encourage them to drive a car. Way to go "anarchists." You really have fucked the system now!
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!