Keys to the Kingdom: Impressioning, Privilege Escalation, Bumping, and Other Key-Based Attacks Against Physical Locks

by Deviant Ollam

Lockpicking has become a popular topic with many in the security community. While many have chosen to learn the fine art of opening locks without keys, few people explore the fascinating methods of attack that are possible WITH keys. "Keys to the Kingdom "addresses the topics of impressioning, master key escalation, skeleton keys, and bumping attacks that go well beyond any treatment of these topics in the author's previous book, "Practical Lock Picking."This material is all new and focuses on locks currently in use as well as ones that have recently emerged on the market. Hackers and pen testers or persons tasked with defending their infrastructure and property from invasion will find these techniques uniquely valuable. As with Deviant Ollam's previous book, "Practical Lock Picking," the DVD that accompanies "Keys to the Kingdom "includes full-color versions of all diagrams and photographs, along with instructional videos that provide readers with a full-on training seminar from the author.Excellent companion to Deviant Ollam's "Practical Lock Picking." Understand the typical failings of common security hardware in order to avoid these weaknesses. Learn advanced methods of physical attack in order to be more successful with penetration testing.Detailed full-color photos in the book make learning easy, and companion website is filled with invalualble training videos from Dev!

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 17, 2012

Reviews

[Neal Aggarwal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since I was shot and left for dead by a gang of thugs that got into my home through a locked door I have wondered if they stole a bunch of keys or picked a lock. I think I know now. This book showed me what's possible and alerted me to the fact that I need to revisit my physical security to make sure 'it' never happens to me again.

[Raven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear explanations, excellent illustrative photos, makes it easy to follow the path of the attack and the subtle things you're looking for that will allow you to interpret the data and execute correctly.

[Aaron Hamlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's the best book I've seen on these advanced topics. Deviant writes well, is organized, and has amazing images. He's very well known for his lectures within the locksport community, and it's clear why.

[Dgg32 · Rating 5 out of 5]

not bad for an introduction to impressions and so on...

[Sandy Maguire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up a second hand copy of Keys to the Kingdom after greatly enjoying Ollam's talks at WWHF and DefCon. This book was disappointing, as he's a much better speaker than he is writer. The good: you can get through this book in a few hours, and it covers the same amount of material as maybe four or five of his talks. The bad: you'll be getting a significantly worse experience.

After the first few chapters, I found myself skimming. As an amateur with only a passing interest in lockpicking, most of these attacks are too sophisticated for me to care about. I'm not going to be breaking in to any high-security locations, and attacking a pin tumbler is as fancy as I'm ever going to possibly need be.

That's not to say this book is without its highlights. I learned about the impressioning attack, and that pressing a key against your forearm for 30 seconds will leave an impression for 15 minutes. That's a pretty cool way of exfiltration. I just tried it myself and it seems to work!

[Carson Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as instrumental as Practical Lockpicking, but nonetheless and amazing resource.

[Hans Marius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, recommended reading