Keyless Entry
Over the past decade, one of the most adopted advancements in technology is keyless entry. Locks that can be unlocked with keypads, bluetooth, or fobs have flooded the landscape. At this point, I am not sure that you can even buy a new car with a physical key these days. In totality, I believe this is mostly a good update as physical keys were never a super secure or user friendly option anyway. This of course doesn’t mean that there aren’t security issues with keyless entry, as there are plenty, but the level of concern you should have is specific to your situation.
Detect - Deter - Prevent
When it comes to securing things, there are types of security that are best applied in combination to create the most secure environment.
However before we go any further, there are two rules to this:
- There is no such thing as 100% secure
- At least 2 layers of security should be implemented when possible
Detect
Okay, now let’s establish the security types I believe are necessary to secure a home. In my opinion, you should always seek to detect, deter, and prevent in that order. This means you should install cameras near the outdoor entry points of your home, which would be the front door and back door at minimum. For maximum coverage, you’d want to set up camera angles of all 4 sides of the property including the yard if possible. This aids you in detecting unusual behavior on your property as long as you have proper alerting setup to notify you or someone else. At minimum if you are not monitoring notifications, ensure that these cameras have recording and playback capability in the event that you ever need to retain video evidence. Additionally, if possible, some kind of alerting to the police department in the case that the home is penetrated is ideal as part of detection as well.
Deter
At times, cameras can also be considered a deterrent. For instance if you have visible cameras that have a red led light on them and your neighbor does not, it’s more likely that the threat will skip your home and pick a neighboring home that does not have obvious security. Seriously, in Walmart they sell fake cameras that you can setup around your home that do not actually do anything other than appear to be a camera that is recording. Additionally, signage in the yard saying that the home is under surveillance or home monitoring service advertisement signs are effective as detterents as well. An ADT sign in the lawn right in front of the front door may cause a threat to rethink. Make no mistake though, deterrents are a weak form of security and are most effective in combination with other forms of security. In the case that the home is penetrated or suspicious activity is detected, some form of audio alert such as an alarm is also a helpful deterrent.
Prevent
The last line of security is the preventative measure. This would be your door locks. Door locks in most cases will at minimum slow the threat down and allow time to prepare. They should not be considered your sole form of security when possible because they are not a perfect security measure.
Back to the Point
The reason multiple types of security measures should be implemented in combination is because no solution is perfect. In the case of locks, the switch to keyless entry is acceptable because we should not rely on locked doors as our only security measure. There are workarounds and flaws to keyless locks that can allow malicious threats to gain the access to unlock these locks.
I know, it’s scary. But not as scary as windows which have existed in homes and cars since the beginning of time. Most people don’t want to put burgular bars on their windows to prevent entry so this is an inherent risk that we accept. The truth is that there is no 100% security solution so we should apply combinations of security that lower our risk as much as possible. But again, there is no such thing as 0 risk. Millionaires with 24/7 security on premises and property gates still have security incidents from time to time.
Security is about lowering risk to a point where you feel comfortable that a threat is less likely. Additionally, security is having a plan or response in place in the event that security is breached.
Silver Lining
The silver lining in this is that you can continue enjoying the convenience of keyless entry. It is an incredible technical advancement that saves time and can prevent you from locking yourself out of your own home or car. As long as you are implementing other forms of security in combination, you can still be protected in the event that your keyless lock is exploited.