Competition for lock-pickers

These days there is much concern over cyber-security and over whether we have the right tools to combat computer viruses. Software hackers can perform a vital service by defeating a supposedly secure system and persuading its owners that they need to do better.

The same was true in Victorian times, although the security in question was much more mechanical in nature, namely door locks and padlocks that could be “picked” by a burglar if he was clever enough.

The Victorians even went to the extent of holding lock-picking competitions to discover whose locks were most secure and whose were open invitations to people with nefarious intent.

One of the first examples was held at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, and many more were to follow, with the bouts being recorded by the newspapers of the day.

Manufacturers of locks would submit their products for these competitions, and also supply lock-pickers whose aim was to defeat whatever their rivals could come up with.

This type of contest was clearly only something that a company would enter if it had every confidence that it would win. To be beaten in such a competition, especially if the defeat was a resounding one, could be a commercial disaster if one’s customers immediately insisted on changing all their locks! No doubt there were members of the criminal fraternity who followed these competitions with interest and took note of which locks would be easier to pick and which should be avoided!

The net result of these competitions was undoubtedly better lock design. The same applies today with the constant updating of online security to meet new challenges. The holding of “hack-in” conferences at which security experts and hackers meet to test computer systems is clearly a modern parallel to the constant striving of Victorian lock-makers to produce an unpickable lock.

Unfortunately, the Victorian dream was never realized – and there is every chance that the modern aim for perfect cyber-security is unlikely to be achieved either.

© John Welford