Douglas Chick swears he isn't trying to teach anyone to break into your house.

The IS director's self-published book, Steel Bolt Hacking, is his way to share his knowledge about and cash in on a growing "sport" among computer and network professionals: lock picking.

"Thieves are more inclined to use a hammer and crowbar than they are a lock pick," says Chick, who lives and works in the Orlando area but keeps the name of his employer under lock and key.

The attraction of lock picking for IT professionals is a natural, according to Chick. "Finding and locating weak spots and vulnerabilities are what computer people enjoy best," he writes in the 114-page book, which also defines lock-picking terms such as jigglers, pins, plugs, tension wrenches and tumblers.

Certified locksmiths say they are wary of the ethical ramifications of the general public learning to pick locks, though they aren't surprised that IT pros are gravitating toward the skill.

"Hackers by their original definition are problem solvers, so it is a logical evolution," says David Lowell, associate executive director for the Associated Locksmiths of America trade group.

Others, such as attorney and author Marc Tobias, say it's hard these days for computer and network professionals not to think about physical security - including sophisticated master-key systems that feature unique keys for each lock but a master key that can open all locks - given the measures most organizations take to protect their equipment.

"IT people get into physical security by default. Their computers, networks and servers are not sitting in the middle of nowhere," says Tobias, who created a stir earlier this year by calling attention to flaws in certain laptop computer locks. "They are locked in rooms that are generally [part of a master-key system]. If I can get access to your server, I can do a lot of damage."

Chick's no-frills book is one many instructional lock-picking references available, many of them online. These include the seminal Guide to Lock Picking, which also is known as the MIT Guide to Lock Picking, although the hacker community from that school has pleaded for those distributing and posting the manual to take "MIT" out of the title because they say their intention was never to have the guide distributed widely. Rather, they say it was meant to aid those carrying on the time-honored tradition of slipping into and exploring tunnels and roofs on campus.