The Open Organisation of Lockpickers or TOOOL is an organization of individuals who partake in the hobby of Locksport, as well as educate its members and the public about the security provided by common locks. It has two main chapters based in The Netherlands and several chapters located in the United States including ones in major cities such as Detroit, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Phoenix, Raleigh, and Austin, many of which meet regularly.
Mission
The mission of the Open Organisation of Lockpickers is to advance the general public knowledge about locks and lockpicking. By examining locks, safes, and other such hardware and by publicly discussing our findings we hope to strip away the mystery with which so many of these products are imbued. The more that people know about lock technology, the better they are capable of understanding how and where certain weaknesses are present. This makes them well-equipped to participate in sportpicking endeavors and also helps them to simply be better consumers in the marketplace, making decisions based on sound fact and research.
Legal concerns
In the Netherlands, the law allows possession of lockpicking tools as long as there is no intent on using them unlawfully. TOOOL members have to adhere to a code of conduct that includes, among other things, to remain professional in their activities and not to use the skills learned for anti-social activities.
Lock bumping
In 2005, the technique of lock bumping was brought to public attention when members of TOOOL first drafted a white paper describing the technique, then went on a Dutch national television show, Nova, to describe the technique to the general public. TOOOL has since cooperated with consumer groups in testing the resistance of various locks to the technique.
Conferences
TOOOL is responsible for hosting or co-hosting many of the lockpicking areas of popular hacker conferences around the world including Defcon and HOPE. The European branch of TOOOL also hosts its own conference and competition, LockCon and Dutch Open. The Dutch Open began in 2008 and is held during LockCon.
