Steel Bolt Hacking

Alec Kryten writes "Here is a book that introduces and teaches a fascinating new sport for the hacking hobbyist which doesn't necessarily involve computers. Steel bolt hacking is the art of competition lock picking that is beginning to make its mark on computer people and other geeks around the world. At DefCon this year I picked up a book titled Steel Bolt Hacking, which teaches the basics of lock picking. I bought it because I watched the lock-picking contest during the DefCon Convention and thought that I might want to participate in next year's lock-picking events." Read on for Alec's review of the book.

Steel Bolt Hacking
author	Douglas Chick
pages	114
publisher	TheNetworkAdministrator.com
rating	8 out of 10
reviewer	Alec Kryten
ISBN	0974463019
summary	How to pick locks, crack combinations for LP sports groups

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.

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Lock Picking For fun and Profit???

Think that Kryptonite lock is safe? Think again [boingboing.net].

Some other interesting discussion [google.com]. Small wonder I scarcely let my racing bike out of my sight.

"may I borrow your pen? I need to pick up some transportation."

Re:Lock Picking For fun and Profit???

Haha, very nice videos. Will have to try that on my lost-the-key-so-long-ago bike lock at home.

In case the videos get /.'d, the technique appears to be that you jam the open end of those cheap plastic pens into the keyhole hard enough and turn it. I'm guessing the plastic is malleable enough to conform to the 'teeth' of the lock and basically becomes a near duplicate of the original key. Pretty neat.

Holy Crap

Just tried it on the Krypto-Lok sitting next to my desk and once I figured out the trick, I got it open in about 15 seconds.
Basically, you have to shake the lock at the same time that you're turning the pen.
My guess is that shaking and wiggling the pen causes the interface between the pins & spacers to move around, and if you're turning the pen at the same time, the cylinder will rotate a notch as soon as the interface between the leading pin/spacer pair is in the right place. Then you just repeat the same procedure for all the other pin/spacer pairs.

I work for a bike parts/accessories wholesaler...

...and I browse /. when the sales calls aren't heavily inbound. Naturally, I forwarded the link to the other six folks in the department, and everyone's buzzing about it. We will definitely bring it up with the Kryptonite rep the next time he's in the area.

Generally, folks buying locks know that it's just a deterrent... except for the people buying exactly the retails-at-$80 lock (with heavy-duty chain) shown in the movie, who tend to be messengers and/or people with $1k+ bicycles. Personally, my bikes stay locked up in my living room when I'm not on them, and I don't take my lock with me when I seriously ride because that would tempt me to separate myself from the bike. I've got a cheap old schwinn cruiser for that. (=

Re:I work for a bike parts/accessories wholesaler.

I had a bike locked with the top-end kryptonite stolen. The thief then kindly re-attached the kryptonite to the bike rack. 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.

I will never buy another lock, ever. I only trust my good bike ( A Trek Project One 5500/5600 (the OCLV 110 from a year or two ago) with campy record) to be within reach. My junker is a 1960s Schwin that cost about $60 and is in 4 colors of cheap spray paint. I just tie it in place with a double figure-eight knot :)

-WS

Re:Lock Picking For fun and Profit???

it's my site... those two quicktimes have been downloaded close to 80,000 times today so far, but the server (dreamhost.com) appears to be going strong.

Re:Off to the pop machine...

Nope. This model of lock must have either really crappy manufacturing or a design flaw or both. What they're doing is the equivalent to "raking" in a conventional lock -- that's when you put some tension on the cylinder and just run a pick along the pins without any attempt to feel the individual pins. It generally won't work in a lock with security features and tight tolerances (though sometimes you get lucky). In addition, tubular locks are usually designed so you have to turn it at least 1/4 turn to open it, which would involve picking the lock several times. The Kryptonite they show releases the shackle in an intermediate position -- bad design there. A real tubular lock pick should open those locks; a simple plastic cylinder of the right diameter should not.

A valuable skill

A few years ago I bought a few books on lock picking as well as a lock pick set from England. It turned out to be a great skill to pick up. I have opened countless door locks, cabinets, etc. and saved myself and others money and aggravation. The downside is that if it's widely known that you have this skill you may well be a "suspect" when an office or house is broken into. Anyway, the book sounds good.

Erick

Re:A valuable skill

You might also check out Ted the Tool's on-line book called the "MIT Guide to Lock Picking" found here [lysator.liu.se] among lots of other places.

Re:A valuable skill

Whine about it for awhile longer. Then use the Wayback Machine [archive.org].

Lock Hacking in Hackers

I first read about serious lock hacking in the book Hackers [amazon.com] by Steven Levy. The early hackers at MIT were notorious for hacking locks on office doors, toolboxes, safes, etc. to get to tools and information.

Surely you must be joking Mr Feynman

There's a great bit in the book "Surely you must be joking Mr Feynman" where he (Feynman) talks about safe-cracking. His propensity for beating locks gets him called into a boss' office where a safe containing nuclear secrets (or something ridiculously important like that) sits, but no-one knows the combination. So he sits down at the thing, presses his ear to the door and starts listening, only to have the thing pop open on the first try.

Everyone in the room goes "Ooooo! how did you do that? Are you really that good?" And he had the presence of mind to say, "Yes." =)

Re:Surely you must be joking Mr Feynman

The poster confused two different stories into one.

In one, Feynman had learned a technique to pick up the last number or two of the three-number combination from open file cabinets, and he also learned that one only had to be accurate to about +/- 3 on the dial. This allowed him to drastically reduce the number of guesses needed for a lock.

He was telling a colleague about this, and they ducked into an office so he could demonstrate. Feynman already knew the last number for this particular lock, so he was saying something like... "so I can try out the numbers really quickly. Let's assume the first number is this [sets dial] and I'll check the second number like this..." and the lock opens almost immediately. He thinks fast and continues without pause "... and that's how it's done!" And they walk out, leaving everyone in the office gaping in shock. It was a lucky guess ont he first two numbers, but he didn't let on.

In the other story, the Boss had a BIG safe installed, and after Manhattan was closing down they needed to get into it. People asked Feynman to try it, because of his reputation, and he said he would. (How could he refuse without destroying his rep?) He goes into the office, and it's open. Feynman eventually finds out (after many amusing diversions) that the base locksmith had opened it by trying the factory combination.

Re:Surely you must be joking Mr Feynman

The safe in question was my aunt's father's. She said he didn't bother changing the combination because he knew it was all theater anyway, and the way spies would get secret documents was to get people who had them to hand them over. As it happened, he was right.

She also said that he said General Groves was a real bastard.