Are Smart Locks Secure, or Just Dumb? | Hacker News Reader

Are Smart Locks Secure, or Just Dumb?

gizmodo.com

2 pointsfjcaetano4 comments

First thing that popped into my mind: "let's just fuzz the poor thing over BT and see if we can get it to fail"; the device inside doesn't seem particularly robust, as far as electronics are concerned. Oh, and I wonder what a directed EMP (which is as low-tech as it gets) would do to the lock - fail-open? fail-safe? fail-closed? Who knows...and never mind the circuit breaker box located conveniently outside. No juice - now what happens?

That's a good point, but as mentioned, if one really wants to get in, there are easier ways than to hack the door. A crossbar to the door is cheaper and demands less effort.

The EMP is a nice thought, I think it would render the electronic boards completely useless as it do to any other digital device. Actually there are/were studies of EMP bombs to be blown over cities that would wreck every single electronic device, even cars. I believe the major problem would be pranksters, either online or offline. Someone might be able to hack into their servers and unlock all doors just because he can.

Anyway, regular old-fashioned keys are something that needed improvement for a long time. Afterall the technology hasn't changed much in over 300 years, so I think it's nice to see some fresh thoughts on this subject.

I wasn't thinking anything large-scale: a small EMP device can apparently be built from off-the-shelf parts, yielding a pulse which would only harm electronics in close proximity - I was thinking of burglars instead of pranksters. You are indeed quite correct: the lock isn't always the weakest link, but may be the one that's easiest to break without attracting much attention - breaking through a door tends to be very noisy, and hard to conceal; a broken lock may not be apparent to casual inspection.

One last thing, doors and conventional deadbolts locks are not very secure on their on. Lockpicks can easily open a single cylinder lock (well, I did it for fun). So, in my opinion, smart locks actually give you another superficial security layer, but, what's most important, they add convenience, which is a much more intangible asset.

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