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Ask Slashdot: Protecting Tech Gear From Smash-and-Grab Theft?
rstory writes "I seem to be hearing about more smash and grab thefts lately, from low-tech purse snatching to thieves after laptops and cameras. Bold thieves are even snatching stuff in church/day-care parking lots in the 5 minute window while a parent goes in to pick up their child. I often drive around with my laptop, and want to find the best way to protect against theft. Besides the obvious 'don't leave equipment in the car' solution, what else are people doing? Right now I just use a regular backpack instead of a fancy laptop case. I don't have a trunk, so when I leave the car I put the backpack on the floor of the back seat, sometimes throwing other junk on top. The only interesting thing I've found while googling is a couple of 'anti-theft' backpacks which have wire mesh to prevent cutting them open and a (thin looking) cable for securing to a stationary object. What do you do to protect your gear?"
Well for laptops you can install software that can help you track your laptop or protect your files from a remote location. There are ton of them out there, listed in the article below http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387748,00.asp
It is a lot harder to sell a laptop covered in stickers and scratches than it is to sell a laptop that is in mint condition.
It might not look professional, but that is kinda the point.
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
If you can't take it with you, put it in the boot (trunk) - much harder to smash and grab from the boot,
I don't know where you got that idea.
Trunk locks are utter crap and trunk latches are just as bad.
Not to mention that they can just smash a window and pull the trunk release.
All things being equal, you should prefer someone smashing a window
and pulling the trunk release instead of prying open your trunk with a crowbar.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Sounds like cars are better built for the European market... Boot locks on all cars I have owned have been secure, and very few cars I have owned have had a boot release in the passenger compartment (I'm not saying they don't exist, but out of my seven cars, only one has had one) - normally it's either a manual release on the boot itself, or you have to use the key to pop it.
The main thing about sticking stuff in the boot is that it's out of sight - how many thieves will attack the boot on the off chance when there's other cars...?
I drive a Jeep Wrangler, which is as secure as a tent. Basically, it IS a tent.
So the passenger's side floor is pretty much always full of Dunkin Donuts trash. I slide my laptop bag under it all, throw a few empty coffee cups on top, and noone's going to think there's anything interesting to steal.
Out-of-sight, out-of-mind works very well.
None of you appear to actually be familiar with normal theft.
Don't be the easiest (or juiciest) target in the local vicinity. This is absolutely the most important thing you need to know to prevent theft and most other crimes.
#1 The best way to prevent theft is to not leave valuables in your car, of course. This won't necessarily prevent a break-in, though - but that's what insurance is for.
#2 If you are going to ignore #1, then don't leave valuables sitting out in plain sight. It's best to put them in the trunk, rather than burying them under a coat or something. Thieves aren't quite that stupid - if they see that you're obviously trying to conceal something then they will be more interested in it (bulge under the coat, backpack stashed someplace unusual). Keep in mind that your definition of a valuable item is not the same as a thief's definition of a valuable item. You had best put all your small electronics out of sight - not just your laptops, but your smartphones, your iPod, your USB stick, your fancy sunglasses, your designer jacket, your spare shoes, your watch, and other junk that you may consider expendable but the thief may not. If the trunk isn't an option, then consider putting things under the seats, in the glove box, or in the shadows (with reflective surfaces downward).
#3 If you cannot possibly hide your valuables somewhere, then disguise them. People in poor areas occasionally take up the bad habit of using the back of their car as a garbage can. You can simulate this bad habit with little effort, and hide stuff under the rubbish. Empty McDonald's bags, empty liter bottles of soda, used-looking tissues. No one wants to dig through trash unless there's a very high probability of a payout from it. Don't try to hide things in a backpack - that's just stupid. Backpacks are great theft targets in and of themselves - text books to resell with no questions asked, expensive calculators, laptops, iPods, etc. Hiding stuff in a purse or suitcase is also an obviously bad idea. You could use a trash bag, maybe a diaper bag like one of the other posters suggested (though that might be odd enough to draw attention to it, unless you go the extra mile to make it really look like you cart your kid around with you). Grocery bag might work, especially if you put a bag of chips on top of anything valuable.
#4 If your car does not blend in with the surrounding vehicles, then you will be a target for break ins. Even if there is nothing obvious of value sitting out, someone may decide that your car's value implies you own other valuable things and might've left them out. If you truly need to spend lots of time parked in bad neighborhoods, then buy an appropriate vehicle for it that doesn't draw attention to you. Used car, dents, faded bumper stickers. A for-sale sign is always a good touch. This tip extends from your car to you - don't make yourself an obvious anomaly. Wear a worn, slightly stained trench coat over your business cloths if necessary. No fancy jewelry, like nice watches or designer glasses.
A 12 volt battery will only deliver 550 amps through a 0.21 ohm load. Since the human body is around 50,000 or more, your "friend" would have delivered a whopping 0.00024 amps to the would-be thief, which you can't even feel. Sorry, but I used to be a truck mechanic and the batteries were rated a good bit higher than 550 CCA. I touched both terminals numerous times, and you really feel nothing. I started trucks by shorting across the starter numerous times which touching the frame. Nothing.
Now, the ignition coil at around 20kV, would be a very different thing. I never experienced that first hand since everything I worked on was diesel, but my mechanic friends told me it hurt like a s.o.b.
having been the victim of a smash and grab myself (stole my GPS unit when I parked in a small public lot and went into a Qdoba Grill for about 5 minutes to pick up a meal to go), I'd say one of the best things you can do is make it appear there's absolutely nothing in your car or truck.
Most smash and grab thieves are looking through the windows of the vehicles they pass by for *anything* they think they might want to take and get a few dollars from. Spare coins sitting in an ashtray that's opened partially? Yep, enough reason to smash and grab! (They did it to my younger brother *3* times, stealing a total of about 79 cents, when he parked in his college's lot! If they even see a few pennies, they think maybe there's more than that in the tray they aren't seeing, and money's money.)
So as other people said, keep things in your trunk or even in the glove-box or center console, or under the seat if that's doable ... anything to keep stuff from being on display through your windows. Very few of these people would bother smashing your window just to take a guess that maybe you have something good in your glovebox or under a seat. They'd rather walk on to the next car or truck where they can see something definite inside.)
The exception to that rule is when someone watched you put something of value away in your vehicle. Years ago, I worked for a company that just purchased a new, high-end laptop for one of their salesmen. The day after I configured it for him and issued it to him, he went someplace to take a client to dinner and put the laptop, in its carrying bag, in the trunk of his car. Someone saw it, and when he got back, he found they had taken a crowbar to his trunk and pried it open to steal the machine. That's a different type of thief though, really.
Of course, people keep saying "Don't ever LEAVE anything in your car! Take it with you!" .... but I know this isn't always practical or realistic. Sometimes, you put an item at more risk taking it with you than leaving it in the vehicle -- or you really don't have a good place to put the thing if you take it with you. In the summer, I've had times I didn't even have any pockets in the clothes I happened to be wearing, so just taking my car keys with me was enough of a hassle. That's why I'd go with the idea of just ensuring the stuff is concealed outside of plain view, and try to do so in an inconspicuous manner, just in case someone IS watching you.
If, say, your only item(s) of value are locked in the trunk already, you might even want to just leave the windows rolled down or the car unlocked? I know a few people who do this regularly in high crime parts of town they live or work in, because all in all, replacing the broken window glass is more of a costly problem/risk than anything else. If the thief doesn't have your keys, they're not likely to steal the car itself unless they're enough of an expert that they were going to do it regardless of the doors being locked or windows being rolled up.