Starting out with physical security

Several months ago I was involved in a discussion focusing on steps taken to secure information systems, and came to the realisation that all the counter measures and protections where network and system based. As a joke I asked what was the point if someone could pick the building locks and walk out with the hard drives. Surprisingly to me, everyone stop talking and looked slightly concerned. Since then I’ve been toying with the same question: “What is the point of firewalls, IDS, patches etc. if the data isn’t physically protected?”

After doing some research I decided to put the theory to the test and find out how effective common physical security actually is. My first set of tools and training material arrived today, a set of 20 lockpicks and tension tools, a beginners instruction guide and a see-through lock for practice from Southord. The delivery impressed me for speed, at point of purchase Southord stated a three to five week delivery time to Europe, in practice delivery was less than a week; thank you Southord (and Dale Pearson for recommending the set)

Whilst waiting I have been researching the topic quite heavily and have found the forums at lockpicking 101 to be invaluable and need to say thank you to those who have freely contributed information. Hopefully I’ll be able to contribute back to the community once I gain some ability and knowledge.

It’s going to take a lot of practice and persistence before I’m anywhere close to proficient, but ask yourself the same question: Why spend thousands on information security if the physical protection isn’t up to the job?
— Andrew Waite