If your home has an automatic garage door opener, you may have been concerned about recent media reports of burglars using simple electronic devices to hack automatic garage door openers.This hacking attempt yields a reusable code that can allow the burglar to watch your house until certain it's empty, then leisurely open your garage door in seconds. Fortunately, there are a few ways you can significantly decrease the risk of garage burglary. Read on to learn more about one low-tech way to prevent your garage door from being opened from the outside, as well as some technological advances that can help you stay one step ahead of would-be signal hackers.

What can you do to prevent your garage door from being opened from the outside? 

One of the quickest ways for would-be burglars to enter your home is to force your garage door open by triggering the emergency release lever from the outside with a wire coat hanger or other thin tool. The release of the emergency release lever unlocks the door, allowing it to quickly and quietly be pulled open. This process is made even simpler if your garage door has windows located at eye level, allowing the burglar to see what he or she is doing. By deactivating your emergency release lever, you'll lose the ability to pull your garage door open quickly from the inside, but will also have shielded your door from outside entry through non-electronic means.  

To deactivate your emergency release lever, which is a Y-shaped lever located between the top of your garage door and the motor, you'll simply need to move this lever into the closed position (from a Y to an I) and secure it with a zip tie or other restrictive device. By cutting the zip tie, you'll be able to gain the use of your emergency release lever, but it will be nearly impossible for a burglar to accomplish this same feat from outside.

What are your high-tech options to prevent your garage door opener from being hacked?

Unfortunately, even if your garage door can't be opened by a wire from the outside, it may still be vulnerable to electronic entry attempts. Most would-be burglars using this illegal entry method will target garage door openers that use a fixed code, rather than a rolling code. A fixed code garage door opener sends the same series of numbers to the garage door motor sensor each time (for example, 123456). Once a burglar hits upon this code, he or she can easily open your garage door at any time simply by inputting the same code on a hacking device.

Rolling code garage door openers are much harder to target, as they use a different code each time the door is opened. While a burglar in close proximity can still use a hacking device to pick up on the code you're using to open your door, this same series of numbers will become useless once the door has closed again -- much like a chip and PIN credit card generates a different electronic signature each time it's used to prevent hackers from accessing your credit card number. Many garage doors manufactured prior to 1996 used a fixed code instead of a rolling code, so if your door is at least two decades old, replacing the motor with an upgraded and updated version may be a wise investment. You can usually tell if your garage door opener is a rolling code model if it has Security+ or Intellicode written on the remotes or motor housing. 

You might also want to consider upgrading your garage door opener to an electronic mobile application. These apps can pair your garage door with your individual phone, making it a great option if you are one of many whose cell phones never leave their side (but who tend to leave the garage door opener on the sun visor or another visible area of their vehicle). 

For more information about upgrading your garage door opener, contact a company like DSI Door Services North Shore.