rubber-hose cryptanalysis

rubber-hose cryptanalysis
 n.

   [sci.crypt newsgroup] The technique of breaking a code or cipher by
   finding someone who has the key and applying a rubber hose vigorously
   and repeatedly to the soles of that luckless person's feet until the
   key is discovered. Shorthand for any method of coercion: the
   originator of the term drily noted that it "can take a surprisingly
   short time and is quite computationally inexpensive" relative to other
   cryptanalysis methods. Compare {social engineering}, {brute force}.