Mimicking a Garage Door Opener

[Noah930]

How hard is it to mimic a garage door opener?

I was just in the garage tonight, rummaging around under the seats in the 911 for something I dropped, when the garage door opener clicked on. Weird--Mrs Noah (whose car has the remote programmed into it) couldn't have gone to pick up our son from a school performance that quickly. No one had used the button on the wall obviously; no one was standing there to use the keypad outside; I hadn't pushed the button on the remote clipped to my sunvisor (I was under the front seat), and the other remote was inside the house in a drawer.

Just as this happened, a box truck was in front of my next door neighbor's house, slowly going down the street,but then went tearing down the street after I exited the 911 and stood up in the garage. Related? Or am I just being paranoid?

[smadsen]

Several years ago a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier visited Santa Barbara and anchored offshore. Garage doors all over town reportedly were going up/down for no reason.

For some reason it's comforting knowing the Navy can probably open your garage door from halfway around the world. Imagine Putin watching his garage door flopping up/down, up/down trying to get out the house to go to work.

[Noah930]

Great. So Huntington Ingalls can't get the aircraft and munitions elevators to work on the USS Ford, but they can open my garage door from 2 oceans away.

[sc_rufctr]

You're not being paranoid. Something triggered your garage door and it wasn't you.

Maybe the guy in the box truck had a remote code rolling device of some sort and was trying to gain access to your garage?
(the smart thing to do would be not to park in front of the garage you're trying to open)

I've heard rumours that there are coding reading devices that can defeat the security.
Is it possible someone "read" your remote while you were using it?
Predicting the next code is complex but there are devices that keep guessing until they solve it.

FYI: There are robotic safe crackers now. It can take up to a month to open a safe but it's a mathematical certainty.

[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

You're not being paranoid. Something triggered your garage door and it wasn't you.

Maybe the guy in the box truck had a remote code rolling device of some sort and was trying to gain access to your garage?
(the smart thing to do would be not to park in front of the garage you're trying to open)

I've heard rumours that there are coding reading devices that can defeat the security.
Is it possible someone "read" your remote while you were using it?
Predicting the next code is complex but there are devices that keep guessing until they solve it.

FYI: There are robotic safe crackers now. It can take up to a month to open a safe but it's a mathematical certainty.

To follow up on that comment, Did the box truck have any markings from a known store in your area? Thieves like big vans because they can hold lots of stuff, and it cannot be seen by prying eyes.

[SamC.]

Congratulations, you were targeted. Dirtbag in the box van was using a freq counter ( or a variant thereof) while cruising your neighborhood (likely affluent). A few hundred bucks will buy you a barrage jammer to defeat the RF counter. Or, lock the garage door albeit a PITA. Good news is you were there to see it happen.

[ckelly78z]

It sounds like the guy in the box truck was testing frequencys, and yours happened to go up as he passed. Rest assured, if you wouldn't have popped out, he would have popped in...if not now, then later ! You may want to disable your opener for a week or two to preserve what is in your garage, and try to get a license plate # if you see that truck again.

[pavulon]

I've experienced the same thing without the truck. It's troubling. I disengaged my opening mechanism and monitored. I thought about it a lot and adjusted the pressure on the door when closed. It's not happened again in years now. Not sure if the adjustment was the difference maker.

[wilnj]

It’s worth a call to the local PD and/or a social media post to let people know the MO and that an unmarked box truck doing a slow roll through a residential neighborhood warrants some extra attention.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by wilnj

It’s worth a call to the local PD and/or a social media post to let people know the MO and that an unmarked box truck doing a slow roll through a residential neighborhood warrants some extra attention.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

^^^
This

[KFC911]

2 words...mebbe one...

vice-grips

....my gd would be SO easy if I didn't keep it secure that way imo. It stays closed too....my 'hood gets "cased" a lot imo.

[billybek]

We don't actually park in the garage all that often. I have pad locks on the tracks and shut off power to the opener when the door isn't in use.

[javadog]

I have two garages, one for the daily drivers and one for the toys. The openers for the garage containing toys are on a separate circuit that I can switch off when they are not in use. That prevents the kind of crap that you experienced from happening. I also typically keep those doors padlocked closed and for those of you that have not already done this, I suggest you take a look at disabling the emergency release on the door opener track, as thieves have figured out a way to easily break in to a garage door by disengaging that release.

[Paul T]

Originally Posted by javadog

I have two garages, one for the daily drivers and one for the toys. The openers for the garage containing toys are on a separate circuit that I can switch off when they are not in use. That prevents the kind of crap that you experienced from happening. I also typically keep those doors padlocked closed and for those of you that have not already done this, I suggest you take a look at disabling the emergency release on the door opener track, as thieves have figured out a way to easily break in to a garage door by disengaging that release.

That’s a good idea - I may do this. I have a similar situation.

[MBAtarga]

All sorts of info on how this can be done. Most of what I found are a few years old though.

https://www.wired.com/2015/06/hacked-kids-toy-opens-garage-doors-seconds/

https://www.itstactical.com/intellicom/physical-security/how-to-hack-a-garage-door-in-under-10-seconds-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/

https://www.engadget.com/2015/08/10/hacking-device-lets-thieves-open-your-car/

[stomachmonkey]

Absolutely related.

We had a rash of it in our community a while back.

Check your interior panel for the remote disable / lock feature. Part of my evening bed time routine is making sure remote control function of the opener is disabled. Often if I come home and know I won't be going back out I'll disable it earlier in the day.

Google the zip tie emergency release hack.

It's a very simple way to prevent the emergency release from being operated from the outside but does not impede operation from inside.

[pwd72s]

It's not paranoia when they really are out to get you.

Definitely worth a call to the cops.

[Steve Carlton]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Predicting the next code is complex but there are devices that keep guessing until they solve it.

Does this defeat the newer "rolling code" type of door openers? My understanding is the older non-rolling code openers are easily triggered with a scanning type signal generator.

[Noah930]

FWIW I have a rolling code type opener.

[pwd72s]

Hooboy. Me too. Did you call the cops?