Was thinking about making the same comment. People throw cinderblocks here to get garage doors open. Until recently, we deliberately kept ours unlocked (if we're going to get burglarized, at least we'd like to keep the doors on the hinges).
I had to do that when I worked in San Francisco. I just left it open with a note, "Please take a nap in here, whatever, just don't break anything." I did put a kill switch in that mechanics can't figure out. It wasn't the stupid radio I cared about, it was repairing the windows.
But breaking a window and climbing though it takes time and you can cut yourself if you hurry and crowbar makes a lot of unwanted noise.
And not every garage is your basic suburban-attached-to-a-house type. Some little more expensive flats have underground parking where the gate opens with garage opener and thous suckers don't even have windows, they are just metal gate.
With this you could gain access to the cars and with boosting the signal from the cars with the "keyless entry" you could easily swipe clean a lot of cars without the a trace.
>> I wonder if there could be commercial interest in cryptographically secure garage door openers?
>Probably not. Mainly because breaking a window or crowbarring a door is a lot less expensive and a lot faster.
It's also a lot more likely to attract attention of bystanders.
Another concern may be insurance. In my area of the world, insurance companies generally refuse to pay out for burglaries unless there is evidence of a break-in (a broken window, forced door or something like that). This would likely not be covered. If this kind of device became popular with thieves like the car keyless entry hacks have, I can see there being a demand for something like this.
We're already seeing organized theft rings using devices to unlock car doors without breaking in. I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility for the same thing to occur with garage doors.
Probably not. Mainly because breaking a window or crowbarring a door is a lot less expensive and a lot faster.