Smart locks bring convenience and even significant tranquility to a home, yet there are still precautionary measures to consider. Smart locks are one of the essential elements of smart home technology. Producers like August, Yale and Schlage have given us smart locks that work with Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Apple Home Kit. 

These innovative locks add convenience and the capacity to know what’s going on with your front entryway from anywhere. However, if you don’t use your smart lock safely cyber-criminals and burglars can easily access your home. Here are some Locksmith Miami tips to protect your smart lock from security risks. 

Smart locks and risks

Truthfully, smart locks offer many conveniences that traditional ones will never offer, yet it has its potential risks. We all know, no security mechanism especially tech-wise comes without a drawback. 

Smart locks, for example, come with tamper-resistant but not tamper-proof. Its functionality depends mostly on internet connectivity and uses wireless technology which creates many issues. For example, cyber-criminals can break in with little effort since it encrypts the information however not invisible. 

Poor connectivity can likewise be a major disappointment. Imagine a day without Wi-Fi, or the smart lock battery dies. Therefore, knowing how to use your smart lock safely is essential. 

Yes, you would need to avoid these issues. However, there is no reason to worry if you know how to use these locks safely. 

Use a PIN with voice unlocking

When your smart lock is connected with a voice assistant, use a PIN to open it with voice commands. It is possible to make a temporary solution with IFTTT to prevent using the PIN. It’s also workable for someone outside your home to bypass your voice assistant to open the entryway with only some pieces of data about your device. 

However, using a PIN for voice unlocking is an outright must for smart lock security. Naturally Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa both require a spoken PIN for voice activation, and you can use one with a smart lock, including the August Smart Lock Pro. 

Make temporary codes for people

Temporary codes are an extraordinary method to guarantee your safety and monitor who’s coming and going from your home. It’s a smart idea to give a code to a friend, family, visitors, and you can use it for office use too. Most locks include the option to provide at least 10 codes. A few, similar to the Nest X Yale lock, permit an unlimited number of individual codes. 

Think about making a code for family members, visitors, and, one for house services like the cleanup crew. Smart lock applications will tell you which code or client opened the entryway in an activity log in the companion application. 

Exploit scheduling

Many smart locks include the option to schedule your codes. It means you can set the dog walker’s code only to work from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. 

When you’re renting your home out or have visitors staying a few days, you can make an expiring code that will work all hours of the day between set schedule dates. This gives you a chance to provide access to your home to the person who needs it, yet just when they need it and no more. 

Permit additional highlights

There are many highlights smart locks use to keep you secure. Decoy numbers are numbers that light on a keypad before you type in your code. Typing the decoy numbers, which change, before your code implies you use more of the keyboard and make it challenging for a would-be burglar to have the option to figure your code based on fingerprints or wear on the buttons. 

Auto re-lock is a straightforward highlight many lock models offer that locks your entryway after a set amount of time, guaranteeing that if you forget to lock the entryway, your smart lock will do it for you. 

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Image courtesy: Lockitron/Apigy, Inc. Creative Commons

Lastly, keep your smart lock and its companion applications updated. Makers can use software and firmware updates to fix any security issues and improve your lock’s performance. Check your applications routinely and update whenever there is new firmware or software accessible. 

Owning a smart lock can be convenient when you need a friend or relative to drop something essential off or watch your home while you’re away. As extraordinary and stylish smart locks are you’ll still need to adjust the settings when their new, to make your home better secure.