Home Q&A: Are smart locks worth buying and can they be hacked?

Smart locks  can feature digital keys, codes and fingerprint access and remove the nuisance of physical keys

A smartlock by Dynolock. Picture: dynolocks.ie

Are smart locks worth the money and can they be hacked?

ANSWER

The short answer is yes, but is your well-branded smart lock likely to be hacked by the everyday opportunist — no. 

The National Guild of Certified Locksmiths explains: “The majority of burglaries are spur-of-the-moment decisions, intruders are in and out on average in eight minutes. 

"These types of burglars are unlikely to have the forethought of stealing, cloning or hacking into your smartphone to disable your smart lock. 

"It’s more likely that a stolen or lost phone will give someone the ability to access or ‘hack’ your smart door lock.” 

Smart locks are the access tools of the moment with digital keys, codes and even fingerprint access. 

They offer multiple benefits and remove the nuisance of physical keys. They can be operated by an app, touchpad, keycard, tag or fob, and many people simply use their phone screen or a card slid from their wallet to get into their homes. If you are away or have a delivery, you can give a one-time code (digital key) to access the house via your wifi. 

Your door will have a manual override to operate the door in the instance that, for example, your phone is dead, you forget the code or the wifi or Bluetooth is down (you will need wifi for any remote operations). 

Apart from when you are on holiday, being able to remotely open the door means your kids will never come home to a locked latch again! If they lose the smart door fob, it can be cancelled digitally to ensure it is not used by anyone else. 

Prices range from around €170 depending on the brand. Check with your insurance company for the type of lock they deem acceptable. Generally, that will remain a BS3621 mortise deadlock with five or more levers, however it is operated.

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