Botched Firmware Update Bricks Hundreds of Smart Door Locks
Found on Bleeping Computers on Sunday, 13 August 2017
On Tuesday, August 8, smart locks manufacturer LockState botched an over-the-air firmware update for its WiFi enabled smart locks, causing the devices to lose connectivity to the vendor's servers and the ability to open doors for its users.
The company is asking customers to send in their affected locks so engineers could update the device with the proper software. LockState estimates that the total time to fix and return the product will be around 5 to 7 days.
You paid $469 for an IoT security gadget (that's the first joke) that does not even have method for local firmware updates (here's the second joke). A few cents more could have added an USB port, allowing the owner to roll in the correct firmware with an USB stick and a master access code.