SMART LIFE Your old security system might not be that secure. PACIFIC GROVE Monterey Peninsula Pacific Grove Tourist Guide Front Cover 300dpi 12.18.19 GROVE "BEST SEASIDE SANCTUARY" by the Sea Sanctuary by the Sea™ Sanctuary by the Sea™ PACIFICGROVE . ORG PACIFIC GROVE Turist Guide Sanctuary by the Sea™ PACIFICGROVE.ORG/ LODGING HOME Don't stand pat on security It's not enough to have an alarm system: Be sure its technology is up to date. Congratulations! You have a security system installed in your home, and you're actually using it. (It's shocking how many people have alarms but don't turn them on.) But is that active system really doing all it could to keep you safe? For example, some older systems are susceptible to replay attacks: The sensors around your house periodically send signals back to the system's central unit to say that all is well. Thieves can use simple gizmos to capture those communications and play them back to the central unit-while they take the opportunity to break in. As far as your system is concerned, nothing's amiss. Modern systems prevent such attacks by encrypting the messages between sensors and the central unit. But older security systems, notes Brandon Strand, head of product and marketing for AAA Smart Home, are not generally protected with encryption. ANDRIY POPOV / ALAMY by the Sea™http://www.PACIFICGROVE.ORG/LODGING http://www.PACIFICGROVE.ORG/LODGING