Monday, November 16, 2015

    So at times I need a small reminder of the impact the field I got in to can have on the world. Andrews pointed this article out to me and said I should check it out. I love history, especially the history of technology and tools. To see where we have come from and where we are heading is something I love studying.

    The cold war is a topic I enjoy reading about. It must have been a pretty intense time to be alive. Living in constant fear that the other side might launch an attack at any given moment. I know I would lose a little sleep over it. So when I read the article title "A Former KGB Covert Entry Expert Speaks" I was immediately interested. I mean, this is why I became a locksmith.

     I wanted to be able to crack safes and get in to secure areas no one else could get to. Not for any nefarious means, but just simply because I could do it when no one else could. The article covers some of the entry tactics that were used. They even have a short video showcasing one of the tools used.

    The ex covert ops agent is named simply Nicolai B. in the article. Whether or not that is his real name, your guess is as good as mine. He was a senior KGB operative during the cold war. He was stationed in Riga, Latvia. He found him self out of a job in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

    During his tenure as a KGB agent he was tasked mainly with conducting sensitive intrusion in to homes, businesses, and other facilities to gain sensitive information for the Soviet Union. Now he never goes in to specifics, but in reading the article you get a feeling that this guy has done some pretty interesting things. He is quoted a few times as saying the Russians have developed a lot of the common lock manipulation tools we use today. Hinting that technology hasn't really gone that far when it comes to locks.

    If you have a free minutes or two you should check out the article. It is an interesting read and gives you a small window in to some of the history of the locksmith industry. It is always a good idea to look back at where we come from. It helps us avoid making the same mistakes as our ancestors and possibly improve the world for future generations.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcwebertobias/2011/05/19/a-former-kgb-covert-entry-expert-speaks/