The lowly garage door remote is a simple device and has been around for as long as I can remember.

It usually consists of a nondescript piece of rectangular plastic with one or more buttons. When I was much, much younger, I marveled at this little box as if it were performing magic.

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Click. The whirring began and slowly the garage door lifted. Click. Down it went, whirring without hesitation. It was simple and steadfast.

Most of all, it provided a luxurious convenience. No more getting out of the car, in rain, wind, or snow to lift that garage door up—higher and higher till it edged over the retraction point.

Many new cars have garage door openers integrated into the vehicles themselves. Homelink is a name that is popular in this space.

Now, WiFi modules can adapt existing garage door openers and give you the ability to open and close your garage door using a smart phone app.

Even with all the new shiny toys, the lowly garage door remote still exists. It’s a reliable, cost effective piece of gear that just works.

In terms of safety, that marvelous little garage door remote is falling into the wrong hands.

Falling is perhaps not an accurate term, but criminals are specifically breaking into cars to steal them.

Why? With it, they can enter your garage, rummage about, and then proceed to enter your home via an adjoining door. If that adjoining door is unlocked, the task is made even easier. The garage door remote is the path of least resistance.

You can do something to better protect yourself—make sure your vehicle is locked, remove your valuables, place the garage door remote out of sight, and make a photocopy of your registration documents but block off the address portion before photocopying.

A few precautions can go a long way in keeping that garage door remote from the wrong hands and preventing crime.