This talk will take you from the door seals of ancient Mesopotamia to the proving grounds of LockCon in the Netherlands, with particular attention paid to the evolution of mechanical locks. We'll explore the myriad uses of locks, and find out why our present relationship to them is so far from their intended purpose. And throughout our exploration of the history of physical security you may see parallels to, and possible futures of, digital security.
Schuyler Towne (@shoebox) is a research scholar at the Ronin Institute, studying the history of security. He has been a competitive lockpicker, an expert consultant for television producers and mystery authors, and a guest lecturer at Princeton & MIT. He has recently embarked on a project to recover as much information as possible on the lock patents lost in the Patent Office fire of 1836.