The Midnight Lock is a novel written by one of my favorite authors; Jeffery Deaver (Not Archer!; though I actually bought my first Jeff Deaver novel called The Blue Nowhere thinking it was written by Archer! which turned out to a pleasant mistake!)
So do you know what are Tension wrench, Hook Pick, Ball Pick and Rake pick to name a few!
Or do you know who is a Locksmith? Or what is a Locksport?
Well just like you have ethical Hackers (yes! they Hack for ethical reasons!); there are a group of people who break locks internally or pick locks officially or ethically also! That profession is called Locksmithing!
In the novel though, the Locksmith was not ‘ethical’!
So Lock picking of course is the practice of unlocking a lock by manipulating the components of the lock device without the original key.
Although lock-picking is usually associated with criminal intent, it is an essential skill for the legitimate profession of locksmithing, and is also pursued by law-abiding citizens as a useful skill to learn, or simply as a hobby (locksport!).
In fact there are competitions held where complicated locks are presented to the professional Lock Pickers and they are timed! Like any sports, you are allowed to use your equipment or tools and points are awarded if you use as minimum tools as possible though most points are for the time!
In some countries, such as Japan, lock-picking tools are illegal for most people to possess, but in many others, they are available and legal to own as long as there is no intent to use them for criminal purposes.
One of the cool tools which I used to love to listen was the skeleton key!
Now like everyone else, I used to think that it was made up of the bones of a skeleton which could change the shape according to the lock!
In reality though, the warded pick, also known as a skeleton key, is used for opening warded locks. It is generally made to conform to a generalized key shape relatively simpler than the actual key used to open the lock; this simpler shape allows for internal manipulations!
The history of lock development, particularly modern locks, is largely one of an arms race between lock pickers and lock inventors. Just like the war between the creators of a Virus and the anti virus!
Today’s anti-picking methods in standard pin tumbler locks include the use of sideward which obstruct the keyway and “security pins” or “carnival pins”.
These are shaped like a spool, mushroom, or barrel, with the effect that they feel as though they have set when in fact they have not.
Security pins can also have the effect of resetting other pins when adjusted.
For any Lock Picker though the challenge is to pick the most secure locks in the world which include Fort Knox!
If by any chance, you want to break into Fort Knox, you need to pass through several obstacles and not just locks! It is like a hacker’s challenge to break into a goverment site! Your expertise is to break without being caught apparently to show your ‘skill’! Of course all of these are illegal!
You can of course learn Lock Picking to ‘pick’ a lock in emergencies with proper permission and more importantly ‘good intent’ though!
Good intent and content is also songs by Vani Jairam…
Shubh ratri…
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