This has got to be the most commonly asked question which I get when I let anyone know that I have a home that has been upgraded to be called as a “smart home”. I get all sorts of gazes from my peers when I tell them that I had upgraded my smart lock to its latest firmware last night that enabled me to have blue and white LED lights across the outer rim. Well, I won’t blame them since I like the most of you out there was reluctant into considering my locks to be replaced with smart locks. The general perception of the whole internet is that your privacy is not secure. And who would want their privacy to be invaded or to the least, have a break-in just because the smart lock malfunctioned? Here in this article, I take you through the ride where I explain in details if the smart locks are safe for your home or are they totally not worth it.
Almost all of the smart locks that are now available in the market are built in a pretty perfectionist way. Most of them are equipped with the latest technology component that has high encryption AES Z-wave technology embedded into it. This particular component makes it almost impossible for any infiltrator to break-in or cracks it using any brute force methods. In all honesty, this is the same level of encryption that is used in the modern high-end business VPN devices that are configured to carry out the most secure transactions that take place. These smart-locks are easily configurable and use high-grade SSL encryption to transmit data back and forth between your administration device and the lock itself. Just for example sake, this is the same kind of SSL encryption that your bank uses to protect your funds from unauthorised access.
Before we dwell further on this topic, let me be very straight forward and cut-throat here. Just ignore this write-up and move on to the next article on my blog if you are a conspiracy theorist and your whole life revolves around the fact of “YOU SHOULD BE WORRIED FOR THINGS THAT ARE OF ACTUAL PROBLEM”. As this site is a complete technology website and is based on how to make your home smart the way I did, in an inexpensive and cost-efficient way. I hope I haven’t made any of you upset! *Honest*
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ARE DUMB LOCKS BETTER THAN SMART LOCKS?
Let us be honest here, the whole idea behind installing locks onto your premises is so that you protect yourself from the intruders. But what if I tell you that a few videos on lock picking from YouTube and a universal lock-picking device that costs as low as freaking 10USD from the internet would allow you to pick any lock in your neighbourhood, how would you feel about that? And the fact of the matter is, all of these dumb deadlocks (commonly referred to as your regular manual locks at home) are freakishly simple to pop open with a bit of hit and trial. And then there is the apparent pounding and barging in by thrusting one’s own body weight against the door where the dead-bolt locks are installed. I can go on for ages discussing the cons of these conventional locks.
The whole point of the above paragraph is to make my readers understand that the lock that is installed on your front door is there to ward off “HONEST” criminals and not the smart ones. These are the criminals who are not going to push their luck. And for that matter, on homes that are built on grade C materials and installed with equipment’s that are below par-standard, those criminals who are willing to push their luck will not hesitate to just force entry into the house by kicking extremely onto your main door to blast it open. It is highly irrelevant whether the deadbolt in this situation is smart or not. So I would say that you are better off investing in an upgraded security strike plate than sitting around worrying about if smart-locks are relevant or secure or not! I am sure it is far likely that having at least a security plate would save the day.
So what exactly do you need to keep those SMART criminals off? Yes, you guessed it right! It’s the investment into a smart-lock along with the installation of a security-plate.
ARE SMART-LOCKS THE NEW EYE CANDY?
What are the chances of a criminal wanting to hack your smart
lock? Well, close to none! The only real thing that would be going around in a
criminal’s mind if they are on your doorstep planning to break-in, is the fact
that the very first sight of them would throw all sorts of illusions in their
mind that this house is an upgraded one, and there is bound to be many more
interlinked connections to other security devices along the way if they think
about breaking in. A smart lock ultimately gives out the vibe that the owner of
the house is vigilant and savvy enough to have invested into an infrastructure
that is interconnected with their local authorities and also a possible chance
of raising a siren to alert the people inside and/or the surroundings of a
possible intrusion.
To paddle this up further, you should always think about investing in a motion
detection based CCTV system that supports all the locks around in your home. A
study shows that the installation of these cameras if made visible to the naked
eye is found out to be much more beneficial in warding off these burglars in
opposed to the cameras that are hidden after the installation. If a CCTV camera
is visible, it gives a second signal to the intruder that this house is well
protected and anything that they do can be backtracked, and they would end up
getting caught. No intruder ever wants to get caught, is the usual saying eh?
Conclusion
All in all, it is a safe investment and surely the right step forward into securing your home, your valuable assets and most importantly yourself if you are still in the house when a robbery takes place. Smart locks are the new reinforcements and in my opinion, should be the first and the foremost thing that you should opt-in to buy if you are planning on evolving and start your transition into the smart-home journey. In theory, the electronic cylinders that are used in these smart locks can be overridden, but the time and the effort that is required to break-in to these devices is not worth it to the criminals and, they tend just to avoid the house and move on to their next venture.
With this, I summarize this topic. Would love to hear your thoughts on it!
