[esrauch]

Lockpicking tools are illegal and yet locksmiths and companies that make locks are allowed to have them. That seems pretty directly analagous; I see no particular reason why we couldn't have licensed and bonded digital security experts/companies.

[nostromo]

Bit of a nitpick (and I'm not sure where you live) but lock picks are generally legal in the US. In some areas however they become illegal if they can prove malicious intent.

[jarin]

That's all fine and good if you only take companies and security consultants into account, but I'm not sure it's 100% analogous. What about random hypothetical geeky teenager who wants to contribute security patches to an open source project? I don't think there's a lockpick equivalent to that.

[khafra]

There is an analogy: Locksporting. Groups like Toool and individuals across the world pick and design locks as a hobby, and have shown flaws in high-security designs like Medeco that were later corrected.