Select­ing ver­tices behind your object or select­ing every­thing under the cur­sor

This is done by tog­gling x‑ray. To the left of your ren­der­ing options for your view­port, there is a but­ton with two over­lap­ping squares. Click this but­ton to tog­gle x‑ray, which allows select­ing through items. The short­cut for this is Alt + Z.

Looks like this: