Garage Door Hacking: How to Prevent It
Garage doors are a common entry point for burglars. With the right tools, they can easily access your home or business and steal your belongings.
Thankfully, there are some steps you can take to prevent hackers from compromising your garage door security system. By following these tips, you can ensure that your home is safe from any unwanted intruders.
Understand the Risks
Before you can protect against garage door hacking, you must understand what it is and how it works. Garage door hacking is an attack where malicious actors use specialized tools to gain access to your home or business via its automated garage door opener.
Hackers can bypass the security system by manipulating certain aspects such as wireless signals and the physical locking system. Once they gain access, they may be able to steal items from inside your home or business premises.
Here are some of the most commonly used methods to hack a garage door:
- Wireless Signal Capture – Hackers can use devices called code grabbers to capture the signal your garage door remote sends out when you press it. This allows them to easily repeat the signal and open your garage door. Fortunately, since the early 2000’s, most garage door opener manufacturers have been using “rolling code” technology to combat this hack. With rolling codes, each code used when you press your remote control will only work once and it will not open the door a 2nd time, rendering any code thieves get useless. The next code used is random out of 100 million possible codes so there is no way for thieves to break in. If you have a garage door opener manufactured prior to 2003 it is highly recommended you replace it with a new opener to eliminate this problem.
- Physical Access Point Attacks – By law, all garage door openers have an emergency release rope you can pull to easily disconnect the door from the electric opener, allowing you to manually lift the door in case of a power outage or garage door opener failure. Unfortunately, it is fairly common for thieves to use a coat hanger to fish between the top weather-strip and the garage door to hook onto the emergency release rope and pull it. This only takes seconds and once done the thief can easily raise the door by hand from outside. Concerned homeowners have been known to disable the emergency release but unfortunately this is illegal. If there is ever an emergency (think fire) and someone is trapped in the garage they have no way out. If someone were to die in this sort of situation the liability incurred may be huge and insurance would likely decline coverage. Fortunately, the Atoms Pro line of openers has introduced a patented tamper proof emergency release on their openers to solve this issue. This simple solution stops fishing attempts while also retaining an easy and quick emergency release when needed. You can see the Atoms Pro opener here.
Secure Your Garage Door
One of the best ways to protect against hackers is by installing a comprehensive security system with motion sensors, cameras, and alarms. This will help deter intruders from even attempting to break in through your garage door. By taking this proactive measure, you can significantly reduce the risk of intruders attempting to breach your garage door. The presence of a robust security system is often enough to deter potential intruders, giving you peace of mind knowing that your property is well protected.
Monitor Your Garage Door
Monitoring your garage door regularly is essential if you want to prevent garage door hacking attempts from occurring. Many newer garage door openers offer wifi capability. Wifi openers allow you to download the manufacturer’s app from the apple store and google play store onto your phone or tablet. Once installed and connected to your wifi network you can monitor your garage door from anywhere in the world, as long as you have a wifi connection. You can open and close your door remotely and you can set the app to send you an alert anytime the door is opened.
You could also consider investing in a security camera to capture video footage when someone tries to open the door without authorization. This will help you identify suspicious activities and take appropriate measures to protect yourself from potential intruders.
Stay Vigilant
Finally, staying vigilant is important when protecting your home or business against potential garage door hacking attempts. Regularly check for any signs of suspicious activity and take action if necessary.
Following these tips can significantly reduce the risk of garage door hacking and ensure your home or business remains safe from intruders.
If you want to secure your garage door and protect your home or business from potential garage door hacking, visit Door House. We offer a range of security solutions for automated garage doors, including security systems, secure keypads, and security locks.
Stay one step ahead of intruders and ensure your peace of mind with Door House.