A pentester recounts their most eventful physical security assessment, describing how they infiltrated multiple buildings with alarming ease. Armed with lockpicks, screwdrivers, and compressed air, they discovered that employee badges provided minimal security and that shredding bins with weak locks became single points of failure.

Over five days, the team walked through camera-filled corridors, tailgated into secured areas, and even wheeled a shredding bin out of the main building in full view of surveillance. The compressed air trick to trigger motion sensors proved effective, though the real breakthrough came from exploiting human nature - no one questioned their presence or challenged their credentials.

The most damning discovery was in the shredding bins themselves, where documents containing payroll data and employee information sat unprotected. The pentester spent mere seconds picking the bin's lock, revealing Level-4 printer documents that should have been securely destroyed. This physical penetration test exposed fundamental flaws in both technical controls and security culture.