Security in Smart Locks : Do Consumers Care?

Abstract: Background. Smart door locks are either replacing or adding on to more regular mechanical locks today. They come in many different sizes and with many different functionalities. Today, most consumer advertisements focus on the functionalities of the locks and not so much on security. A few years ago when the locks started first to appear, they were very easily hacked and dedicated hackers could ride along the road and unlock people's doors with ease. As this is not the case as it was then, the problem persists. Insecure locks exist but consumer media focuses only on functionality, how are consumers making their purchases? In blind faith or with educated guesses? Objectives. This thesis tends to find out if consumers research the security of a smart lock, how do they research it, and is it enough for them? What sources do they consider before purchasing a lock and do they trust the sources? Can an application with security as its main focus aid or change consumers' methods of research? Methods. To begin answering these questions knowledge of the subject is necessary. Therefore, a literature study was conducted in order to find out what aspects of a smart door lock are more or less secure. To answer the first research question a questionnaire was created to collect quantitative data. This questionnaire contained questions about the participants' knowledge of the subject. Then, interviews were held in order to gather qualitative data for answering the second research question. During the interviews, participants got to test a prototype application helping them understand the subject of the questions. Results. The result shows that a majority of the participants are conscious of security regarding smart locks, 59.8% even think it is the most important aspect. The results from the interviews show that people do want an application suggesting smart locks with security in mind. Conclusions. The research here shows that smart door lock consumers value security. Consumers are also aware that consumer media does not value it as much. However, what is left unanswered is if the consumers care enough to do their own research before purchasing a smart door lock?