Wireless Home Security – Good Theater, Bad Security
Alarm companies like wireless alarm sensors because they cost less to install and are prettier since there are no wires. They are also remarkably less secure.
It is useful to understand that you neighborhood junkie might not be able to pull off the attack, but any serious burglar would not have a problem.
In this particular case, a lawyer who has an interest in security was able to buy a signal jammer for $2 that disabled the SimpliSafe alarm system in his house.
While the alarm company disputed his claim with statements like “this is not practical in real life:, the lawyer stands by his claim.
To me, the attack is obvious. If you can jam the signal, the alarm will not go through.
SimpliSafe says that they will detect what they call interference and the lawyer agreed that it did, but only sometimes. He also said that the interference never actually triggered an alarm.
People often purchase an alarm for peace of mind, but if the alarm is jammable, is the peace of mind justified.
If you really care about your personal security, demand that all of the sensors are hardwired to the control panel. If the alarm company can’t or won’t do that, find a different company.
Of course, if the alarm is just for appearances, a wireless system will be just fine.
The second half of the problem is the communication between the alarm and the monitoring station. Some alarms use your internet; others use a cell modem.
The Internet based alarm is easy to defeat as the wire for your internet connection is typically exposed in a plastic box outside your house for the convenience of your internet provider. All it takes is a wirecutter to defeat it. For cell based alarms, a cell jammer does the trick.
In general, you want two different communications paths back to the monitoring station.
All of this depends on how serious you are about your alarm system protecting you. Most consumer alarms are really designed to lull you into thinking you are secure and it works because most people don’t have the security knowledge to understand what the weaknesses are.
To watch a video of the hack, additional recommendations on being safer and more details of the attack, go to the article on the Verge.
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