There has been a lot of talk about hacking garage doors and lack of security features on garage doors. So, what is this all about? What does it mean for you, and are you safe? Garage Doors and other security systems have been becoming more and more advanced. With that advancement, there are always set backs. The security systems more often than not make us feel safer than we actually are. Not to mention it is harder to know if your garage door has been hacked than it was years ago.
\No one wants to be hacked, or robbed, or feel as though they are not safe. However, we often relax our security feeling comfortable instead of keeping our guard up for attacks. We lock our garage doors but not the door inside the garage that leads to our home. This is just letting those that want to gain access to our homes have more opportunities.
Back to the past, and forward to the future
The first garage door was created in the mid-1920s here in the United States. They started out fairly simple with a wired keypad that needed physical access to open your garage door, there was not another way to do it. It was simple and was not something that could be hacked.
Now technology advanced and things got more complicated. With wireless devices that were radio-activated were the new fad for garage door openers. This soon was discovered to be easily hacked by the fact that all openers had the same code that were from a specific manufacturer. This meant buying a ton of the remote controls from different brands could grant you access to other garage doors.
How to fix your garage door security to prevent hacking
To correct this, manufacturers created a dip-switch system that would create 8-12 switches that would be in either an up or a down position. This would then be matched from the opener to the remote. This lessened the likelihood of hacking a garage door by changing the number of unique garage door opener combinations from 256 to 4,096, this is dependant on the number of switches that were on the garage door opener. It wasn’t as if a criminal could sit outside your home and try all the combinations, so this is when computers came into play. They were now trying computer-related techniques that could open the garage door in seconds.
This was then proven to be hackable as well. So this was then corrected through hopping or rolling codes as it is called. This is still not flawless, and it is best to ensure your internet connection has a secure firewall to protect you from any hacking attempts. So, what does all this mean? If you are worried that your garage door might not be safe then call a garage door service expert, like the ones here at Stanley Garage Door & Gate Repair. We can come to your home and offer an inspection of your garage door security features and check for garage door repair needs as well. No matter what garage door service you need, call 1-213-212-2470 and we will take care of it for you. We also offer gate repair as well!