Fancy smart locks marketed to Airbnb hosts permanently broken by software update

The Internet of Things continues to amaze, but unfortunately for all the techno-utopians of the world, it’s for exactly the wrong reasons. 

The latest case study in why connecting every little thing to the internet might not be such a good idea is brought to us by Lockstate — a company that manufactures, among other things, a Wi-Fi enabled smart lock marketed to Airbnb hosts around the world. The device allows for keyless entry and remote monitoring, along with the charming ability to be remotely bricked.

And, surprise, that’s exactly what happened on Aug. 7 when Lockstate pushed an errant firmware update that left a number of its locks permanently busted. Whoops. Read more…

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