Smart doorbells on business premises make your property more attractive to burglars, warns researcher
- Reference: 1615838828
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/03/15/smart_locks_attract_burglars_business_premises/
- Source link:
The defence 'n' security-focused institution's findings fly in the face of heavy marketing from companies such as Amazon's Ring, whose video-enabled doorbell product has been touted around the world as a security-enhancing gadget.
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It's an 'affluence' clue...
Worse, for vendors, Cranfield University's Dr Duncan Hodges reckoned the presence of a smart doorbell was "unlikely" to have "any significant effect on residential burglary" rates. Instead, he said in a [2]summary of a research paper published on the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats' website, smart doorbells and smart locks could actually make things worse.
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"These are devices that are particularly noticeable due to their deployment on the exterior of properties and can thus increase the salience of affluence cues – experienced burglars use these cues to identify properties with potentially more high-value items, during the target selection phase," he wrote.
Smart locks have long been a plaything for security consultants who enjoy contrasting vendors' claims about the tech-enabled gadgets with their actual efficacy. Back in 2016, before Amazon bought out Ring, we reported how the device [4]leaked home Wi-Fi credentials and was vulnerable to a physical denial-of-service attack (you could remove it from the door by unscrewing two Torx screws).
Ring, Ring, why don't you give me a call? Amazon-owned doorbells aren’t answering after large-scale outage [5]READ MORE
Relying on internet-connected gadgets to secure one's home or to remotely view footage of folk knocking at the door leads to other failure modes not experienced with a physical lock and key; to wit, [6]service provider outages KO'ing your smart security gadget .
Worryingly, the use of smart home security gadgets could, or so Cranfield said, lead to "an increase in group-performed planned burglary" with smart crooks exploiting "unintended information leakage in the cyber domain" to gain access to unsuspecting businesses' premises. Mildly reassuringly, this trend is "rare in residential settings at the moment."
A product called the KeyWe smart lock, which combined a traditional metal key with smartphone-based authentication, was [7]rendered useless in late 2019 after Finnish infosec firm F-Secure looked closely at it.
The smartphone key could be sniffed in transit by a $10 Bluetooth Low Energy device, letting anyone overcome the device's technological unique selling point. Similarly, a startup called Tapplock produced a lock whose body consisted of cast zamak (a notoriously low-grade zinc-aluminium alloy normally used for door handles) and [8]whose API merely checked for a valid token from any registered user before opening the lock, and not the unique valid token that the lock's purchaser might reasonably expect it to.
Cranfield's Dr Hodges told The Register : "If you are interested in securing your home, the best way is to take the £90 you would spend on a [smart] doorbell and upgrade the locks at your property's rear and install window locks.
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"It's not cool or trendy, but it'll make a real difference. As with everything in security, it's no good securing the property's front but having the rear of the property being vulnerable." ®
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[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YE-nCemeQdF3iOBC1IxKnAAAABQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://crestresearch.ac.uk/comment/mapping-smart-home-vulnerabilities-to-cyber-enabled-crime/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YE-nCemeQdF3iOBC1IxKnAAAABQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2016/01/12/ring_doorbell_reveals_wifi_credentials/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/03/amazon_ring_outage/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/03/amazon_ring_outage/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2019/12/11/f_secure_keywe/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2018/06/15/taplock_broken_screwdriver/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YE-nCemeQdF3iOBC1IxKnAAAABQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
It's not cool or trendy, but it'll make a real difference
> As with everything in security, it's no good securing the property's front but having the rear of the property being vulnerable
And your garage. And shed.
Burglars love a garage. It provides cover and a source of hardware which might be useful in breaking in to the house.
I used to install alarms systems. Get one if your insurance company insists or offers significant discounts on that basis. Otherwise spend the money on locks
-A.
Re: It's not cool or trendy, but it'll make a real difference
"Burglars love a garage. It provides cover and a source of hardware which might be useful in breaking in to the house.
I'd expect a pro to have what they need already. Opportunists might use what they find.
"I used to install alarms systems. Get one if your insurance company insists or offers significant discounts on that basis. Otherwise spend the money on locks"
Should that be a visible alarm? I've always thought, as per the article, that visible signs of protection are just indicating that you are protecting something and have the extra cash to afford to pay for that visible protection. Would you recommend a system that doesn't put a brightly coloured shiny "bell box" on the wall?
Re: It's not cool or trendy, but it'll make a real difference
They wouldn't like my garage, it's where I keep the 800 pound Orangutan Librarian & his supply of bananas. $Deity help whomever disturbs the Librarian!
Re: It's not cool or trendy, but it'll make a real difference
Yep agree with the locks entirely. Mind you having said that the garage is strong (4 point powered main door and a 3 point lock steel side door) but the shed well, I need to do something about. Especially as the previous occupants installed it with the window facing the neighbours garage and not into the garden. That is besides the fact that it is not very secure.
Maybe time for a newer stronger model (or at least a better lock)
Excellent, on the basis of this, I will be encouraging my neighbours to "invest" in more smart locks, and thus reducing the (already low) chance of scum choosing to harvest valuables or Veblen goods from my property.
Depends where you live (applies to residential use of smart bells only)
If it's a generally affluent road with plenty of alarms and smart bells anyway, having either is not drawing attention to your home and burglars will go for an easy target. I'm sure the smart bell won't deter them - it's more an easy way to monitor who's at the door.
Smart locks- ah that might be a different kettle of ball games.
Geeks too!
Well, the home might not contain a lot of stuff that is of normal value to burglars, but instead contain a bunch of geek gadgets. A friend of mine likes this type of thing (can't remember if he actually bought electronic locks or not), and has bought lots of tools and gizmos. I don't think his place has much in the way of normal expensive stuff like fancy stereos, jewelry, keys to fancy cars, etc. Actually I don't think it has *ANY* of that sort of thing....
And yes, I do realize he is in a small minority of buyers for this sort of thing.