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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
If I park somewhere that has a reasonable chance of a smash-and-grab, I take valuables with me.
Period.
Who cares if it's locked down to something, if it looks like there is something valuable in the car, it's going to get broken in to. And if they can't take the thing they really want, they'll likely do extra damage, just because.
Other than that, I try to avoid leaving my car in locations that I worry about its safety.
Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com."
The purpose of that site was not known.
Get a dog and keep it in the car.
I don't leave it in my car. And when I leave it in my work vehicle, it's locked in a floor safe because it's work related and the company paid for it.
Om, nomnomnom...
...holding laptop, make sure to solder an unobtrusive on/off switch someplace you can reach but non-obvious on the briefcase (or connected to the briefcase by wire.
Fun! :)
(I had a friend who did something similar to the hood ornament of his Dad's Mercedes during the 80's when everyone was stealing them.)
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>>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.
Seriously? You expect technology to solve this?
Sorry to be so blunt with the title, but that sums it up. If you don't want your shit stolen, don't leave it laying around for an opportunistic thief.
Take your stuff with you.
like to those used for firearms by people who carry concealed weapons when they're forced to leave their sidearm in their vehicle (e.g., when dropping by the post office or a bank).
http://www.google.com/?q=vehicle+firearms+safe
William
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
GPS beaconed and battery-backuped/powered strong box hardwired into your car's battery and built into its frame is the most definitive solution. Throw some biometric thumbprint scanning and numeric passcode locking if you really want to go overboard. This is an expensive solution though. ($10K plus to start with.) If you are driving a car without a trunk, upgrade your car for maximum protection. You set priorities in life, so you decide how secure your want your setup. I think that you could suffice with a small strong box with lock, key, and tumbler code and some degree of heft to it. Perhaps 35 pounds or more. This would deter speed and swiftness.
Help me, help you. - Jerry McGuire
It's an old photographer's trick to keep gear in a diaper bag. Nobody wants to go near that (literal) shit.
They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
When I was carrying my laptop around in a slim jacket instead of backpack, I'd just put it under the floor mat on the passenger front side.
A ridiculous number of compact and subcompact cars have no trunk these days, they are glorified hatchbacks in effect. Although minivans and SUVsgenerally don't have trunks either....
Make sure it is covered by auto/home-owner/renter insurance and back-up regularly.
rstory, as the submitter of this question, you neglected to provide a link to yourself and your /. profile doesn't seem very informative.
Can you please give us a few details. Particularly, oh I dunno, maybe some info on where you like to park your car? Thanks!!
P.S. FYI, you can post stories as ac.
If I'm going around with my laptop, I put it in the inconspicuous place in my car *before* I get in my car. Not after I've stopped and everyone nearby can see that I'm hiding something valuable.
t
Not that I like the NRA but a GOA sticker doesn't have the same brand recognition.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
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.
1. Eliminate risk: Don't leave anything in the car or leave your vicious dog in there...
2. Mitigate risk: Encrypt drives, backup often, insure financial loss
3. Security theater: Put everything in the trunk or leave it under the seat
beyond the obvious 'dont park where you're likely to get broken into', fully encrypting your drive and getting insurance (auto or home should cover it) is the most reasonable thing to do. Phone-home software may or may not work - frankly, I don't bother. Just encrypt and have offsite backups of the important stuff. Take the insurance payout and replace.
Most thieves are opportunists, and unless they've been watching you and really, really, REALLY want what you've got, then simply locking the car securely is your best bet.
The other night, I was walking home (about 11:30pm, through East London), and there was a guy walking toward me. He was testing the door handles of each car he passed, until finally one opened. He took the stuff out that he found, throwing some of it away and pocketing whatever else it was he got.
I stood staring at him as he did this, quite incredulous that he would do this right in front of me, and he just looked at me and said, "Well, should've locked their car, shouldn't they?" and walked off, carrying on.
I didn't do anything because this was a very tall bloke, and was probably carrying a knife. I didn't call the police either, since, this being East London, he was no doubt part of a gang and knowing my luck I'd walk into him the following week.
So, lock your car and don't keep anything of value on show. Thieves won't smash EVERY car they come to - only the ones they know they can get stuff out of.
THE HONOUR OF THE KNIGHTS - CC Licensed Sci-Fi Novel
Surprised nobody else has said it, but it also helps if you have a piece-of-junk car. People don't expect to find anything worth stealing if you have visible rust and dents on a 10-year-old Ford or Saturn. I've never had a car broken into, and I frequently leave (small amounts of) cash in plain sight and a backpack with a laptop in the back seat.
12 Volts at 550 Amps wouldn't even go through your skin. Needs to be closer to 48 Volts. If you converted to AC and added a transformer, ~100 amps could be delivered. If you wanted to be lazy, a good inverter will also do the trick. Just make sure and bridge all fuses (check inside, too!)
Sig: I stole this sig.
I have a similar problem. I drive a club cab pickup truck, so I don't have a trunk. What I did was I bought a First Alert Electronic Digital Security Lockbox model 3040DF. I found it at my local national hardware chain (the ornge one, not the blue one) on sale for $40. I bolted it to the floor in the back seat. It would be a bear to take the whole thing out.
"Being right too soon is socially unacceptable." - Robert Heinlein
Here in Texas we recommend closing the convertible roof as a deterrent. Some also resort to locking the doors and taking the keys, but that makes it hard to leave the AC on to keep the car cool.
Come on Slashdot, I expected the comments to be full of ingenious booby trap ideas. I like "metal laptop wired to battery," but how about some other ideas? The main problem I've run into is that any booby traps also need to be safe for the driver and passengers in the event of a crash -- this rules out explosives, cyanide gas, and acid. Here's five to start us off:
1) Use some conductive glass to rig a circuit that will fill your whole car with spray foam insulation when a window is broken.
2) Put a really obvious fake laptop next to a rolled-down window. Sharpen that window to a razor-sharp edge. Rig a laser detection circuit so that if anything passes through the window opening, it will roll up quickly and sever the offender's hand. Make sure that this is disabled automatically when friendlies are in the vehicle.
3) Rig a circuit to spray pepper spray out of any windows that are shattered.
4) Hide a GPS tracking device in all of your valuables which will automatically alert you if they start moving when they should be still. Carry a long-range, scoped rifle and sit near the window.
5) Give your car a robust air-tight seal. Each time your car is parked, pressurize the inside so that if anyone breaks a window, the bits of glass will fly out into their face, disabling them and hopefully knocking them back several feet into oncoming traffic.
Any other ideas?
Back up your data so if your laptop does get stolen it's an inconvenience rather than irreplaceable loss.
Make sure you always lock your car, so many people "jump out for just two minutes to buy something from a shop" and come back to find their car has been emptied. Always lock your car. This will put off opportunistic thieves who are looking for a quick easy target. How many of the break -ins were on unlocked rather than locked cars? If somebody has to break into your car, they might leave evidence, which means at least you might be able to claim on insurance.
Thieves aren't going to sit in your car and try and open locked bags, they will just walk off with them and open them at their leisure elsewhere. So wire mesh laptop bags? these seem like a waste of time for this situation, unless you are also D-locking your bag to a steel mounting point in your car. Easy enough for thieves to get some wire cutters when they've got your bag back at their house and take their time opening it up.
Mark your laptop so it can be traced.
I do photography on the side. That means laptop AND camera. First thing I do is use carrying cases and bags that don't advertise what they carry. My laptop bag looks like an army surplus hippie bag. My camera bag looks like a small backpack. If they are going to stay in the car, I make sure they are out of sight, usually in the trunk of my car. I don't make the mistake of parking my car THEN hiding my valuable, therefore advertising *where* to go to get the quick grab. I also drive a fairly common car that also isn't among the models that make the "top stolen" lists year to year. Not standing out in a parking lot has it's advantages. However, if you drive a vehicle that is largely labeled or *branded* (like BOB'S COMPUTER REPAIR or FRANK'S PHOTOGRAPHY), just ignore this and move to backups and insurance.
Backups. Your laptop likely has data you can't live without. Backup your entire user folder, and any data outside of it. Remember how you had to keep reburning that mix CD you loved before you got your mp3 player? Don't be cheap, use external drives.
Finally, Insurance. I'm still pricing mine out, but make sure that whatever you get covers theft wherever you are. PPA.com (for those based in the US) is an option I'm looking at as a photographer. It's a trade association that includes insurance in your dues, and covers a variety of situations that may not be covered by a regular policy. Also seems to offer quite a few resources for photographers (I am not yet a member).
Prevent by keeping it out of sight, but insure with backups and an insurance policy.
Go too Goodwill, grab a ratty looking Barney the Dinosaur. Cut a hole and insert.
Wait, are we still talking about theft?
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.
tech related a question as you hoped. If you really want to fix it you need to address inherent flaws in consumer capitalism, market driven sales, and social inequality.
churches, children, whatever the hell a five minute window is, are not all universally shared and certified as morally sanctified places; in other words, thieves dont care. asking slaskdot what product we would consume in order to protect the products we consume is perpetuating the very same problem that causes the kinds of thefts you've outlined in the first place.
the only reasonable solution is to buy a reasonably sized laptop that does what you need; perhaps something used on ebay. Bring the laptop where and when you think you will need it, and its dated appearance will likely serve the dual purpose of deterring thieves who want a very nice looking laptop, as well as preventing you from using it as a suburbanite status symbol. backup your data often so that if and when the laptop is stolen, a quick restore to another relatively inexpensive ebay laptop will solve the bulk of your problems.
Good people go to bed earlier.
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.
How about a dog? Or a dog with bees in its mouth so when it barks it shoots bees at you?
My dad actually rigged up something like that once to protect his files.
In all seriousness though, I'd like to share a story that I was actually told by my dad who is a detective in a major city. He worked this case involving a massive car theft ring that was getting through some very sophisticated anti-theft equipment. He and his partner eventually pick up this one kid who they took a shine to because he probably would be working at NASA or MIT if he hadn't been born in such a lousy neighborhood, plus he cooperated which will always get you points with him.
Anyway, too impressive feats by this kid. First off, he had been the reason the thieves got past the anti-theft systems. BMW said that its anti-theft system was unbreakable - he cracked it in under five minutes in front of one of their representatives (which my dad says was hilarious to watch).
Other thing: some strip club owner was tired of being robbed so he bought a robbery-level safe (most safes you see are rated for fires and junk and they only happen to be helpful at stopping the common thief) from the same company who made the ones under the Pentagon (sadly, that company is no longer in business, fyi) with a sign over top that said "NEVER AGAIN!" The kid hears about this and decides that the owner can't get away with that. When my dad and partner picked him up he had a plasma cutter, one of the few things that could break into that quality of safe. BTW, if anyone has any bright idea about the Pentagon and plasma cutters, the level safe they have is probably the model that has poison embedded in it that is released when the metal is breached.
Anyway, the point of all that is to say that even top quality safety tools can be overcome by a knowledgeable/determined enough criminal. You shouldn't so easily cast aside the notion of not leaving your stuff in the car - there's a reason the the most common advice that cops give for this stuff is to take your valuables with you. Some of those thieves will steal anything that isn't nailed down (and they'll still have a go at the things that are) but actually robbing an actual person is far more rare because, once you involve interactions with a victim, the punishment is dramatically increased. Notice that most burglaries occur during the day or vacation.
Still, if you're insistent on leaving your stuff behind, I rather like the electric-suitcase idea. I know LoJack (which works AMAZINGLY for the actual car) makes something for computers but it's software based and yeah... If they ever made the same thing for laptops as they made for cars, I would TOTALLY get one. They're far more effective than GPS devices. According to my dad (who, if the story didn't make it obvious, deals with car theft rings all the time) says our city's police dept has an over 100% recovery rate for cars equipped with LoJack (the extra coming from vehicles that weren't reported stolen in the area and were probably sent here to be shipped out).
Where I live, there was a rash of smash'n'grab jobs (primarily against women) in traffic jams. Thieves would drive up on a motorcycle, hammer the window, and grab the purse on the seat. Since the victim was on a traffic jam, the bike could get away rather easily while the victim was helpless.
As a result, a vendor began importing film that can be applied to car windows to protect against such smash jobs. The film doesn't keep the glass from breaking, but instead keeps holding it together making it very very hard to actually make it PAST the glass in a short amount of time. Thus, the effect of the "smash" part of the operation is broken: smashing the glass is not enough to make it past it. And obviously you're concerned about protecting the data and the time and effort lost if the laptop is stolen, so an investment in this sort of passive protection system might be warranted - even if you throw in the price of a new (set of) window(s).
This is an example of just such a technology. I'm sure there are others and more than likely at a better price. The flipside is that in the event of an accident, it might increase the chances of injury (just a guess), or delay emergency personnel from prying your damaged laptop from your cold, dead fingers.
Seriously, all those great ideas about hiding places you've had? Like under the driver's seat or in the spare wheel well?
You're not the first person to have those great ideas. In fact, you're probably about the 4,000,000th.
Get a Care Bears backpack for your laptop.
To err is human. To arr is pirate.
Police department IT guy here. We've got a couple of "bait cars" rigged with a computer system and a private network 3G aircard for comms. Onboard are hidden cameras, mics and video recording system, remote controlled door closers and locks, remote control windows, GPS tracking, remote engine shutoff and brakes, all sorts of fun stuff. They're not only used to catch car thieves, but also we'll leave stuff laying in the back seat of floor to catch car burglars too. Lots of hilarity ensues on the videos we record inside these cars. Especially when a subject hops into the back seat and tries to grab a backpack that the strap is tied under the front seat rails so you can't grab it and run, and all of a sudden the door slams shut, the window rolls up and they can't get out of the car. By the time they try kicking out the window, a couple carloads full of uniforms arrive to greet them.
Agreed. I don't even lock my "crack" car.
It also helps to live in a small town, where everyone knows your name. And if Bob down the street suddenly gets a Macbook Air the same week mine goes missing, then the whole town knows who did what.
seriously? Have you never ridden down the street forced to listen to the bass thump from a car 100+ feet away? Or was that you, already prematurely deaf.
Park in a crowded area and use a slim jim to unlock the other cars nearby.
Slashdot is not a game, Slashdot is not a game. Crap, I just lost points.
My solution is simple: I'm 5'11 and 330 lbs, and I look like a rocker/biker. I leave my laptop at the bar while I go take a piss, and sure enough, it's still there when I get back to my beer. If someone has the steel balls to grab it, I'll track them down via GPS/WiFi, apply various blunt objects to their vital organs, and burn their house down... with the lemons!
Or you could just carry your laptop with you. That's what them fancy $20 tote bags with the straps and handles are for.
When I was more of a road warrior (read: when I still had a valid driver's license), I bolted a steel cage under my seat, where I could slide in the laptop and lock it under key. Aside from keeping it out of sight, it also meant people who knew where to look would still have to break into the car without setting off the alarm, remove the seat and unbolt the cage from the floor. Or whip out the plasma cutter :P Even if I forgot to lock my door, that would slow them down enough that they'll either get caught, or move on to another target.
I did catch a thief once, he was clawing at it with a wrench, so I took his wrench and beat him with it. That was the last time anyone ever tried to steal my shit.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
First let me say that by far the worst place to park a car is at a beach parking lot. People who are going swimming usually lock their wallets in the car and every crook in the world knows it. Health clubs are next on the list as people usually feel that the lockers in gyms are not secure so they lock their valuables in the car. I have the advantage of being a professional, industrial model maker and built a steel safe that was welded into the floor of my vehicle. It did lock with a good pad lock in such a way that when locked a lock cutter could never touch the locks jaws. It would have been unreasonably difficult under any conditions to remove and open the safe. Better yet if the lock was damaged in an attempt to force it open a milling machine would be about the only way to cut into the walls of the safe. I carried a lot of gold back then and needed to have a severely secure spot that could harbor a bunch of gold about twice the size of a pack of smokes. If you have machine shop skills you can do a similar build but you will need to build it to fit in your vehicle. If you have a mechanic drop your gas tank you could use bolts into the receiving holes of some of the commercial lock boxes sold in places like Wall Mart or Home Depot. That way the crooks can't get at the ends of the bolts and the tops of the bolts are covered by the safe, while the bottoms of the bolts are covered by your gas tank.
I'm 5'10" and built like a slim gymnast who has let himself go. I weigh 220 lbs but sometimes I bloat a bit and my love handles need more love.
I like long walks on the beach and jogging -- well, when you do it of course. I'll just enjoy a lemon spritzer and a steamed towel.
What are the chances of getting you to chase me if I steal your mouse? How angry will you be -- because I plan to be naughty. /// OK, just kidding -- I couldn't help it because it sounded like you were filling out a personals column and GPS/WiFi sound REALLY kinky.
>>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"