Smart Lock Company's Entire Product Line Defeated by Refrigerator Magnet

Connected home security startup FortressIQ is facing a product recall after independent researcher Yuki Tensioner demonstrated that the company's flagship smart lock — the FortressIQ ProShield 3000, retailed at $349 and marketed as offering 'military-grade digital security' — can be bypassed using a refrigerator magnet. Tensioner, a locksport enthusiast and security researcher, published a video Tuesday showing the ProShield 3000 opening in under three seconds when a souvenir magnet from the Grand Canyon gift shop was placed against the lock's exterior housing. The video has been viewed 4.7 million times. 'The actuator motor inside the lock responds to any sufficiently strong magnetic field,' Tensioner explained in the video, demonstrating the technique on five separate ProShield 3000 units purchased from different retailers. 'You don't need a hacking tool. You need the thing holding your grocery list to your fridge.' FortressIQ CEO Brandon Cypher issued a statement describing the vulnerability as 'an edge case that does not reflect real-world threat conditions,' adding that 'most burglars do not carry refrigerator magnets.' The locksport community has responded with pointed skepticism. 'Magnets are literally one of the first things you test for,' said veteran lock picker Sandra Bypass. 'This is like building a safe and forgetting to include a door. It's undergraduate stuff.' FortressIQ has announced a firmware update that will 'address the magnetic sensitivity issue,' though multiple security researchers have noted that the vulnerability is hardware-based and cannot be resolved through software. 'You can't patch physics,' Tensioner said. The company's stock has declined 34 percent since the video's publication. The Grand Canyon gift shop has reported a modest increase in magnet sales.