Are smart locks secure enough?

ADVANCED SECURITY SYSTEMS CAN UNLOCK DOORS WITH PHONE APPS AND FINGERPRINTS, PROMISING EXTRA SAFETY AND NO MORE HUNTING FOR ELUSIVE KEYS

CONNECTED smart homes offer a lot. You can monitor all sides of your residence with internet-savvy doorbells and cameras, for example, command lights to turn on as you stroll down your hallway, and get your fridge to issue an alert when milk supplies are dwindling.

The latest smart home addition – smart locks – will even open your front door as you approach it, and automatically secure it after you step inside.

But just how safe is it to outsource your home’s front line of defence to a gadget, what failsafes are there if you lose your phone or run out of battery, and could the convenience be worth the risk?

Samsung recently upped the ante on its smart door locks, introducing the A30 to Australia that can be unlocked with a fingerprint, PIN or smartphone app, and can automatically lock again seconds after the door is opened.

Other features let users track who opened the door and when, lock it remotely, allow temporary access, and stop the door from being unlocked from the outside or inside for a period of time.

Digital Door Locks owner Sam Karadaky says the A30 shows how much the technology has evolved; from digital but dumb door locks to advanced, connected security systems.

“We’ve seen more enhancements to smart products in the last two years than in the last 10 years,” he says.

“The whole category has such big potential and we believe this is just the beginning of what’s coming in terms of smart home.”

Mr Karadaky says smart locks were not only convenient but let homeowners overcome common problems, such as letting tradespeople in temporarily, changing access when tenants moved out, and ensuring kids could always access their home when returning from school.

“With digital locks, you eliminate the need to actually share physical keys or even keytags with kids,” he says. “It’s all driven by your fingerprints.”

Yale Unity locks product manager Lauren Kendall says the company’s newly launched Digital Entrance Lock can also be programmed to unlock automatically when your phone is within five to 10m, and lock again automatically when you enter the home.

“The amount of times I’ve previously had to search my bag for keys with my hands full, trying to find keys to get into the house … having this auto unlock is something really functional to everyday use,” she says.

Ms Kendall says the technology also eliminates security risks with having several sets of keys, and was now “slowly taking off” in Australia.

“Globally, we’ve seen a big uptake,” she says. “In Australia, we’re now seeing people make life simpler, being able to share access to their homes, sometimes just between family members.”

But Palo Alto Networks regional chief security officer Sean Duca warns anyone considering the technology should carefully weigh up the risks against the convenience.

“You should always think about what this device is going to do, is there a way its software can be updated, can you change the settings from the default to make it secure,” he says.

“You should ask, am I potentially buying something that is creating an exposure in my house and weakening a physical barrier to my home?”

Potential buyers should question what failsafes are in place if something goes wrong, Mr Duca says; the Samsung A30 has a port to plug in a nine-volt battery, for example – and whether a company will continue to support the product during its lifespan.

“We’ve got about eight billion internet-connected devices in homes and it’s projected in the next seven years that there will be over 40 billion devices, so it’s inevitable that we will see more and more devices connected to our home networks,” he says.