I've been lucky enough to get some good exposure over the years. Early on the focus was always just lockpicking, but as my passions shifted I found, to my genuine surprise, that there was an audience out there for my more niche pursuits into the social structures of security.
If you are working on a story about security, locks or lockpicking, feel free to get in touch. I'd love to help in any way I can.
Why Smart Locks Won't Kill
the Old-Fashioned Key
This is the sort of thing historians will laugh at me for, but I think in fifty years a kid will still know what a house key is. There are some innovations out there, like human-powered locks, that could prove me wrong, and fast. But I still feel more secure having a fully mechanical, nondigital lock. When I physically lock my door at night, I am comforted by that act. I don't think that's going away anytime soon.
—Popular Mechanics, 2015
Thief in the Night:
Stealing in a Digital Age
Schuyler Towne, a research scholar at the Ronin Institute who studies security, said proximity has a lot to do with the spread of Internet crime — and so do weak taboos.
"The crux of social order related to any trespass against society," Towne said, "is that the further you are from a single individual, the less emotional reaction people will have to the crime."
—Deseret News: National, 2014
The Master Touch:
The Art and Ethics of Breaking In
![](https://schuylertowne.com/vqr.jpg)
—Virginia Quarterly Review, 2014
Life Lessons in Competitive Lockpicking
*—BBC News: First Person, 2012*How to Pick Locks and Escape from Handcuffs
Schuyler Towne is sort of like MacGyver with a mohawk.
At the SecTor security conference in Toronto this week, the American lockpicking champion and editor of Non-Destructive Entry (NDE) Magazine gave attendees free crash courses in how to pick a lock, bump a lock, make a key impression and escape from handcuffs.
—IT Business, CA, 2010
Locksporters Pick Locks for Fun
![](https://schuylertowne.com/npr.jpg)
As he manipulates a skinny pick to defeat a lock, 25-year-old Schuyler Towne wants to make one thing very clear: Real "locksporters" abide by a strict code of ethics.
"Never pick a lock you don't own, and never pick a lock that's in regular use," Towne says.
—NPR's All Things Considered, 2009
For Those About to Lock
![](https://schuylertowne.com/phoenix.jpg)
—Boston Phoenix, 2009