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Ultimate Lock Picker Hacks Pentagon, Beats Corporate Security for Fun and Profit

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Ehtyar:
Absolutely superb article, thanks for posting it Mouse Man :up: :up:

It's funny to discover that the behavior (read: stupidity) we've seen from just about every cyber-entity in relation to just about anything security, is by no means limited to the cyber-realm. I guess it's a testament to people being as stupid IRL as they are online.

Ehtyar.

housetier:
I liked the article also very much. I find this rebellion very charming :-)

I know a few lock pickers in Berlin, they even have regular competitions and give workshops. Sometimes they help the police by providing "fingerprints" of tools that are used to pick locks. However, these people won't open your door when you have locked yourself out. "We open locks, but not doors" they say.

In a way, they are hackers too and I can very much relate to that :)

f0dder:
However, these people won't open your door when you have locked yourself out. "We open locks, but not doors" they say.-housetier (June 06, 2009, 05:53 AM)
--- End quote ---
How arrogant >_<

40hz:
In a way, they are hackers too and I can very much relate to that :)
-housetier (June 06, 2009, 05:53 AM)
--- End quote ---

Excellent observation. Especially when you consider that back in the early days of hacking and phreaking, being able to pick a lock was considered part of the basic hacker skill set.

Defeating lock mechanisms is a popular hobby for many bright people, including some famous ones.

The physicist Richard Feynman used to combat boredom while working at Los Alamos on the Manhattan Project by cracking the combination locks on file cabinets and safes containing secret engineering plans for nuclear weapon development. Once he gained entrance, he'd often leave them open for the Military Police to "discover" when they conducted their rounds! He would then sit back and watch the base security people run around in a panic thinking spies had somehow gained access to classified research. Considering the country was at war, he's lucky he didn't get shot once they figured out it was him doing it.


Here's a picture of him from his Los Alamos ID card:



That smile of his says it all. 8)

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