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JensenRV
Our over reliance on smart electronics like the navigation system can be ...
DadOf3TeenieBoppers
I'd program 'home' into my GPS to be the local police station. Let them steal my ...
Nav system 'scam'
Rick DeMeis
4/12/2012 9:05 PM EDT
I just received a press release from the folk at LoJack, maker of RF-based stolen vehicle recovery systems. As usual in these missives, they noted a recent successful recovery of a stolen car. But what is perhaps most unsettling is what the thieves used the car for before it was recovered.
When the owner of a two week old Lexus was in a restaurant, her SUV was stolen—with the thieves activating the navigation system to direct them "home" to the likely unoccupied house. Once there, the garage door opener in the vehicle allowed them to enter and burglarize it.
The owner, realizing her car was taken, called police, who activated the LoJack system. The SUV was recovered about an hour later, abandoned near the driver's home. Upon entering the house, she found her house ransacked. Luckily suspects have been arrested.
LoJack warns, to thwart such crimes, that nav system users should not enter their home address as "home" in the system but as one of the destinations instead. I think you could also enter a nearby public building or restaurant, etc, because you could then deviate from the route to that location once you are near your home.
But let's face it; most thieves are not all that stupid. And whether you have a navigation system or not, they can just look at the registration to have a pretty good idea where you live—unless of course you keep the glove compartment locked—which still could be ripped open.
So as a technical type, or even with just good old common sense, what would you do to prevent such an occurrence?
When the owner of a two week old Lexus was in a restaurant, her SUV was stolen—with the thieves activating the navigation system to direct them "home" to the likely unoccupied house. Once there, the garage door opener in the vehicle allowed them to enter and burglarize it.
The owner, realizing her car was taken, called police, who activated the LoJack system. The SUV was recovered about an hour later, abandoned near the driver's home. Upon entering the house, she found her house ransacked. Luckily suspects have been arrested.
LoJack warns, to thwart such crimes, that nav system users should not enter their home address as "home" in the system but as one of the destinations instead. I think you could also enter a nearby public building or restaurant, etc, because you could then deviate from the route to that location once you are near your home.
But let's face it; most thieves are not all that stupid. And whether you have a navigation system or not, they can just look at the registration to have a pretty good idea where you live—unless of course you keep the glove compartment locked—which still could be ripped open.
So as a technical type, or even with just good old common sense, what would you do to prevent such an occurrence?
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BicycleBill
4/13/2012 11:30 AM EDT
I recently rented a car, with a stand-alone GPS from Garmin. To activate the GPS the first time, you had to enter a 6-digit PIN that was on the rental agreeent, and do it within 24 hours of getting the car. (If you didn't do it within the 24 hour period, you were locked out and had to call to get a new PIN, as I found out the hard way.) The rental company is concerned about their GPS unit being stolen, in this situation.
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Duane Benson
4/13/2012 11:31 AM EDT
First, don't store your garage remote in your car.
You could manufacture a GPS that would allow the owner to set passwords on certain destinations or areas. For example, you might require a password for any destination in your home city or county. Obviously, thieves could still drive to your home using a paper map.
You could design a GPS integrated with the ignition that would not allow the vehicle to be driven in your home city without correct password entry. If it's a built-in GPS, you could have this capability even if the thief isn't using it for navigation. A thief could still take your registration and steal another car to get to your house but at that point he or she is likely to consider your house too much hassle and go looking for easier pastures to rob.
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Frank Eory
4/13/2012 2:07 PM EDT
Good suggestions, although as was pointed out, if a car thief wants to know where you live, all he has to do is look at the registration -- and then the navigation app on his smartphone can give him turn by turn directions to your house. No in-vehicle nav system required.
In some parts of the country, if you don't quickly discover that your car has been stolen, about the only think LoJack or OnStar can tell you is where in Mexico your car is located.
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prabhakar_deosthali
4/16/2012 6:15 AM EDT
Just a layman's question - Isn't it possible to just disable this Navigation system with a password before leaving your car in a parking lot?
That would create all the trouble for the thief to force him to use other methods of stealing your car and reaching your house.
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Work to Ride comma Ride to Work
4/16/2012 6:40 PM EDT
Program in an audio playback when you hit the 'Home' button with Clint's voice, saying "Go ahead, make my day."
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masher
4/16/2012 6:58 PM EDT
Garmin also warns about this in some of their GPS manuals.
They mention to Enter in a different address or a use dummy name for your home address in a GPS or use a lock code to throw thieves off.
Also what's to keep the thieves from going thru your car registration and finding your home address this was.
I like the idea of hiding the remote but also remember that a lot of newer cars have a built in remote that is on the headliner and cannot be hidden or removed when you leave the automobile.
There really isn't a concrete solution as long as there are thieves they will find a way around any walls you build up.
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Sparky_Watt
4/20/2012 4:59 PM EDT
It seems to me that the solution is to use a challenge/response device such as a ring for the car key. Since the ring can't be forged and the lock is at the software level of the engine computer, the theives wouldn't be able to start the car in the first place. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about. This is a method of locking a car that even hot-wiring won't defeat. The engine will simply refuse to run.
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Battar
4/17/2012 2:08 AM EDT
How many people have a lifestyle that enables them to purchase a new Lexus SUV, yet need a satnav to find their way home?
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SimulinkJocky
4/17/2012 9:41 AM EDT
The GPS gives a good arrival time. You don't need it to tell you how to get there, just when you'll get there.
Also, some of them listen to traffic reports and can send you around blockages.
It's far from frivolous to have your GPS plot a course home.
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HeadhunterBKS
4/20/2012 4:51 PM EDT
Too many!
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FrankCF
4/17/2012 8:45 AM EDT
Why does the vehicle registration need your home address? The registration should only contain the VIN number and renewal dates. The police could always get the owner information if needed. Also the insurance card doesn't need address information. The VIN number and policy number should be enough.
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dell
4/17/2012 6:07 PM EDT
Expensive car implies expensive home possessions.
To prevent theft, drive a less expensive car!
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Richard.Joyce
4/17/2012 6:36 PM EDT
Don't leave your registration in the car! Make a copy and carry it in your wallet.
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David Ashton
4/17/2012 6:46 PM EDT
Bring back the death penalty for car thieves. They'll soon get the point.
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konda
4/18/2012 2:34 AM EDT
BLE(Bluetooth Low Energy)can address these kind of issues. Keyless applications already in progress. Similar security can be added for GPS device. Till the your keyfob device not in vicinity anybody cannot unlock the GPS device.
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Sparky-one
4/18/2012 11:02 AM EDT
test
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Sparky-one
4/18/2012 11:06 AM EDT
Everything here addresses the issue of how to keep the thief(s) from finding your home AFTER they've stolen the car. I assume this means that they got the car running and drove it. With all the electronics that are required to run a modern engine, can't a more secure means be developed to keep the engine from starting? This obviates any need for GPS security.
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co2neutral
4/18/2012 2:03 PM EDT
The latest cars have wireless keys, requiring a more advanced thief to simulate the key signal. without the key the thief can still tow the car away and strip it, but can't activate the GPS. So the simplest solutions are a. walk, and b. get a new car with wireless keys.
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maryl
4/18/2012 2:36 PM EDT
Secure your home so that thieves can’t get in if they have a garage door opener.
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DadOf3TeenieBoppers
4/23/2012 8:51 AM EDT
My wife would disown my in 3.1415929 milli seconds if I ever pulled a stunt like that.
If we want a real world solution it must be easy to use for non-technies and not incovenience them.
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askubel
4/18/2012 9:24 PM EDT
My first question is: How did that Lexus get stolen? Ever since engine immobilizers came around, cars have become near impossible to steal without access to the key (the most popular stolen vehicle as of 2010 is the 1994 Honda Accord). Assuming the vehicle gets stolen anyways, then most thieves would probably be able to access your house using information in the car, plus the garage door remote that most people keep in their cars.
I believe the root of the problem is garage door openers being insecure, so that should be addressed first and foremost. I would suggest the following solution:
- An IP-compatible(WiFi, Bluetooth, or powerline transport) unit within the garage that actuates the door.
- The opener would be part of the home's network, or it could use WiFi-Direct to communicate with the remote, or even host a wireless access point.
- The remote would take the form of an application on a smartphone, or a standalone unit should no smartphone be available.
- Communication between the remote and the opener would be encrypted, and a predefined key would be required to open the door.
- This key could be provided by a pass code, voice phrase, image of face, etc.
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David Ashton
4/19/2012 4:51 PM EDT
Very good points Askubel. For every high security feature you put in something, there will be someone too lazy to use it.
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BGEMC
4/19/2012 7:04 AM EDT
Why not combien all security in to your Cell phone. Lock & Unlock Car , Garage door activate immobeliser, GPS all this can be done by GSM (even standard models) or smartphone's. Most people keep their cellphone with them.
Hey why don't we recieve a free Phone with the purchase of a car or APP's to use on the car. On the other hand If your Cell Phone gets stolen they even may Crack your Banc account and strip you from head to toe if it contains all the information. :-)
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ertem
4/19/2012 11:28 AM EDT
The solution to this is not technical but psychological. Stop worrying about it! Adding a password or some other 'security' layer will only make your life more frustrating. The odds of this happening times the cost are not worth the aggravation you will have to put up with to marginally get some security.
Go for the mental solution, relax... Don't worry about stupid things like this. (I have been leaving my keys in the ignition for the last ten years and nothing has yet happened to my car.)
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z3ke
4/20/2012 3:42 PM EDT
LOL
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billgZ
4/20/2012 3:19 PM EDT
How can theives steal a 2012 Lexus? Did they have some kind of dealer master key? Does such a thing exist? Is there any other way to "hot-wire" today's electronically advanced cars? If so, why? I thought that was solved years ago.
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Steve.Jaacobson
4/20/2012 3:23 PM EDT
Well, if you leave the door between the house and the garage unlocked, you are simply asking for trouble. Technology can't make up for stupidity. If you don't lock your house (garage doors aren't very good locks, expect to be broken in some day. If you have a whole-house alarm, normally the door between the garage and house is alarmed also.
Steve
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JOATMON
4/20/2012 5:43 PM EDT
The address on my vehicle registration is a PO Box. So is the address on my Drivers License. And just about anything else mailed to me.
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WKetel
4/21/2012 10:24 PM EDT
Probably the car was stolen because the owner left her keys with the parking valet, a nice feature at expensive places. The computer will immobilize the vehicle if it does not get the right code, and the rest costs over $100 at the dealer, not including the tow to get it there. To avoid the garage opener providing access to the house, have a detached garage. Much more secure, and lots safer from car fires. But the simplest fix is to park the car yourself and keep the keys on your person.
As for the registration and proof of insurance, Michigan is such a jerk about it that it does need to stay in the car at all times.
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sudo
4/22/2012 9:00 PM EDT
As for home security: you could get a dog! Men's best friend.
The burglary rate of houses with dogs are statistically lower. Even Chihuahuas can bark but a couple of Dobermans (should that be Dobermen??!)are probably more effective, as a deterrent! :-)
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DadOf3TeenieBoppers
4/23/2012 8:58 AM EDT
To prevent a home theft by someone with access to the garage door opener the system must not inconvenience the occupants and must be easy enough for the computer-clueless among us to use with ease. Voice pattern recognition would work nicely and is not expensive once it is set up. Retinal eye scanners would work as well, especially if someone had suffered a stroke and could not speak easily, although they are more expensive. And a backup system would be the plain ol', reliable house key, preferrably one not subject to lock tapping.
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LHI
5/2/2012 6:34 PM EDT
For a home address just input that of the State Highway Patrol post nearest your home.
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DadOf3TeenieBoppers
5/3/2012 8:40 AM EDT
I'd program 'home' into my GPS to be the local police station. Let them steal my car now!!!
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JensenRV
6/12/2012 4:01 AM EDT
Our over reliance on smart electronics like the navigation system can be detrimental to ourselves when we face thieves who know how to exploit them. In this case, the lady was lucky the police got to them. What if someone was alone at home when the crooks ransacked the house? I shudder at the thought.
William - http://www.jensenrvdirect.com
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