Ask Slashdot: Protecting Tech Gear From Smash-and-Grab Theft? 514
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?"
Re:Get a dog? (Score:5, Interesting)
This is not useful in hot weather. it may be illegal.
To fight the gas theft on the other hand, I keep two gas cans in the shed. I've had the shed broken into and stuff stolen. One nearly empty can has gas. It is a 5 gallon can with no more than 2 gallons in it. The other full can has sugar, water, and gas, lite on the gas. Just enough to provide the proper smell.
Not sure how to do this with a laptop though.
my solution (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Take valuables with you. (Score:5, Interesting)
Rather than a crowbar to pry open the trunk, instead they use a dent puller to remove the trunk lock.
Re:you can track your laptops (Score:5, Interesting)
I work for a Major Bank and we have BiOS "Magic" that will track the Wi-Fi Card MAC, HDD MAC and MB MAC regardless of how many times the HDD is wiped. We have made it so it would be more expensive to replace all of those parts than it would be buy a new laptop. It works as we have laptops stolen all the time and find them with the help of local law enforcement.
The Caveat is that it has to be on a the internet for us to track it. So if someone wants it to just be a local word processor to print to a local printer we will never know about it.
Remember... (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re:550 Amp Truck Battery connected to metal briefc (Score:2, Interesting)
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).
Re:you can track your laptops (Score:5, Interesting)
As another said, the OP has no trunk. Personally, I 'd suggest something like one of these [tuffyproducts.com]. This si just a quick result from a Google search but I have a buddy with a nice under-seat one. Myself, I have a padded carton inside my truck's diamond plate toolbox but these sorts of lockboxes can easily be placed behind a seat if there's no room underneath. The trick is to put the valuables in before your stop. If you're seen putting stuff in these, they know it's valuable and may either steal your car or simply pick the lock. Personally, I can pick a lock in about 10 seconds and my lockpick trainer in the Army could do it faster than I can use a freaking key. Not all thieves will have such skills but enough do.
Security is as much about not being stupid as anything else.
Act badass (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
Re:you can track your laptops (Score:5, Interesting)
The location can be tracked as soon as your OS loads, you can wipe a laptop without ever loading the OS
This is why theft tracking shouldn't be left to the OS (or any program ran by it). There should be a separate piece of hardware, hidden inside the computer that would leach power off the laptop's battery/power supply (or possibly have it's own). Ideally it should have GPS and a 3G radio to send such tracking information to "the cloud". It would be nice to see a DIY/"opensource" version done of this done so some a company wouldn't be able to track you (as easily). This way even if the original OS was never loaded after a theft you could still track your precious laptop.
Re:Get a dog? (Score:5, Interesting)
At my old apartments we had a guy stealing gas out of peoples cars.
My old beater truck had no viable way to lock the gas tank (I had a locking cap and he just broke it off, damaging the fill spout in the process).
so, I went to a shop that had done work for me in the past and we put a new fill spout up through the truck bed into the tool box. The old fill spout was connected to a saddlebag tank filled with diesel.
Found out who was stealing gas when the guy with the camero started having engine trouble the day after the diesel was missing from my truck.
I smiled.
-nB