How to Secure Your Garage Door, by Advanced Lock & Security in Phoenixville, PA

For over 20 years, the experts at Advanced Lock and Security have been striving to provide safety and security for our community. Throughout our experience, we’ve found that garages are a favorite target for thieves and burglars. While we’ve discussed household garage security in a previous blog post, we want to talk specifically about the security of garage door openers. We also want to talk a little bit about securing the possessions you keep in your garage. Find out more in the information below, and if you have any questions, give us a call at Advanced Lock & Security where we proudly serve King of Prussia, PA and beyond.

Automatic Garage Door Remote Hacking

While it’s easy to consider the bad guys locked out once you’ve closed your automatic garage door, that may not always be the case. Thieves can reach in with a wire hook or other tool to pull the release cord allowing them easy access, or it is also possible for a thief to intercept the signal being sent from your remote garage door opener allowing them access whenever they please. This is to say that your garage door can be hacked. If you’re garage door opener was built prior to 1993, chances are that it is operated with what’s called a dip switch system. This is the one where your garage door opener and remote each have a series of small switches, each of which can be matched up in one of three positions. These are particularly vulnerable to hacking since the same signal is being sent to the opener every time the remote button is pressed. Since this signal can be picked up by a third party with an inexpensive receiver, you would never know that someone just got the key to your garage.

How to Prevent Remote Hacking of Automatic Garage Door

Today, there are a variety of advanced garage door openers that will randomly change the coded signal every time the remote is pushed. Since there are around a million different coded signals, it does a thief no good to intercept one since it won’t be good again. There are also sensors and openers that connect to the internet which not only allows you access to your garage door from your smartphone, tablet, or computer, you can also receive alerts if the door is open while you’re away. If you have any questions, or would like to look into upgrading your garage door opener, give us a call at Advanced Lock and Security.

Securing Possessions in Your Garage

Once you’re garage door opener is secure, it’s still important to ensure that your possessions are safe and secure if a thief does gain access to your garage. Any firearm, even grandpa’s old shotgun that may not work, should always be secured in a safe. Other items like tools are a favorite for thieves, so you should invest in a quality tool chest that locks, and it’s not a bad idea to secure the entire chest to the garage. Inexpensive audible alarms are also a great deterrent to would-be thieves, and you may want to consider camera surveillance that can be triggered to record through a motion sensor. These are just a few options for securing your possessions in the garage that can go a long way, especially if you share a garage with others. Find out more by giving us a call at Advanced Lock and Security.