<story><title>Lock Picking – A Basic Guide</title><url>https://www.hackthis.co.uk/articles/picking-locks-a-basic-guide</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jheriko</author><text>A much cheaper and easier approach that works for most locks is to get a coke bottle and tear a strip out of it, then use it to do the &amp;#x27;hollywood credit card trick&amp;#x27;.&lt;p&gt;unlike a credit card it doesn&amp;#x27;t snap or break very easily - the type of plastic will become softer when placed under pressure and is very flexible but strong - if you continue to force it in the right area it will work its way around hard corners and into tiny gaps until there is enough pressure to pop the bolt. when the bolt has an edge that is sloped towards you it will pop on the first push (the way i see most &amp;#x27;yale style&amp;#x27; locks fitted on doors that open inwards - i.e. most front doors)&lt;p&gt;it takes an exceptionally tightly fitted door frame to prohibit this (e.g. one with brushes or hermetic seals)&lt;p&gt;the one time i couldn&amp;#x27;t break into my own home doing this was because there was a brush fitted down the side of the door - fortunately there was not one fitted in the letter box, so i found a long spanner at a nearby construction site and then spent the next four hours of my life whacking the mechanism from through the letterbox blindly until i caught the handle the right way and the door popped open...</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Theodores</author><text>I did this a few times when I was a student. A variant on this is to wedge a kitchen knife between the door frame and the door jamb. Sure some paint gets damaged but it gets you in...&lt;p&gt;Another use for the coke-bottle strip is with padlocks - simply push inside and it opens using the method you describe on most of them.&lt;p&gt;In fact there are so many ways to get round a lock that going to all of the trouble of picking it is rather quaint. Here are some common things that happen:&lt;p&gt;Emergency services - they go straight for the &amp;#x27;Big Key&amp;#x27; which is that battering ram we have all seen on TV.&lt;p&gt;Bicycle thieves - no interest in the lock. Bolt croppers cost less than a good lock and they are far quicker at getting the job done reliably.&lt;p&gt;Car thieves - break into the house and steal the keys.&lt;p&gt;Regular folk locked out of homes&amp;#x2F;cars - call the locksmith or simply break some glass.&lt;p&gt;If you need to gain entry surreptitiously (and not damage a lock) it can be far easier to use social engineering to temporarily obtain keys, e.g. from an employer, then get them cut in a matter of minutes at some place around the corner.&lt;p&gt;Alternatively an impression can be made in &amp;#x27;plasticine&amp;#x27; or a photo taken. A friendly locksmith can sell you the blank, and, with some time with a needle file, a key made.&lt;p&gt;Although fun can be had picking locks, &amp;#x27;in the wild&amp;#x27; it rarely happens because brute force or a bit of Coke can is usually far more effective.</text></comment>
<story><title>Lock Picking – A Basic Guide</title><url>https://www.hackthis.co.uk/articles/picking-locks-a-basic-guide</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jheriko</author><text>A much cheaper and easier approach that works for most locks is to get a coke bottle and tear a strip out of it, then use it to do the &amp;#x27;hollywood credit card trick&amp;#x27;.&lt;p&gt;unlike a credit card it doesn&amp;#x27;t snap or break very easily - the type of plastic will become softer when placed under pressure and is very flexible but strong - if you continue to force it in the right area it will work its way around hard corners and into tiny gaps until there is enough pressure to pop the bolt. when the bolt has an edge that is sloped towards you it will pop on the first push (the way i see most &amp;#x27;yale style&amp;#x27; locks fitted on doors that open inwards - i.e. most front doors)&lt;p&gt;it takes an exceptionally tightly fitted door frame to prohibit this (e.g. one with brushes or hermetic seals)&lt;p&gt;the one time i couldn&amp;#x27;t break into my own home doing this was because there was a brush fitted down the side of the door - fortunately there was not one fitted in the letter box, so i found a long spanner at a nearby construction site and then spent the next four hours of my life whacking the mechanism from through the letterbox blindly until i caught the handle the right way and the door popped open...</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>sillysaurus2</author><text>You opened your door by putting something through your letterbox?  That&amp;#x27;s awesome.  Did you catch the doorknob or the lock turner?  Was the door handle flat instead of round, or...?  Hard to imagine the logistics.</text></comment>