this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2024
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The Los Angeles Police Department has warned residents to be wary of thieves using technology to break into homes undetected. High-tech burglars have apparently knocked out their victims' wireless cameras and alarms in the Los Angeles Wilshire-area neighborhoods before getting away with swag bags full of valuables. An LAPD social media post highlights the Wi-Fi jammer-supported burglaries and provides a helpful checklist of precautions residents can take.

Criminals can easily find the hardware for Wi-Fi jamming online. It can also be cheap, with prices starting from $40. However, jammers are illegal to use in the U.S.

We have previously reported on Wi-Fi jammer-assisted burglaries in Edina, Minnesota. Criminals deployed Wi-Fi jammer(s) to ensure homeowners weren't alerted of intrusions and that incriminating video evidence wasn't available to investigators.

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[–] [email protected] 197 points 5 months ago (16 children)

Don't use wireless for security, PoE or CCTV

[–] [email protected] 89 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Those aren't always options for renters, hence why wifi security systems are so popular.

[–] [email protected] 80 points 5 months ago (5 children)

Even beyond renting, installing a wifi camera is SO much cheaper than running Ethernet all over your house. And if you need it run through an external wall? Even more money.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago (4 children)

Not if you DIY. I just finished a project, not only wiring all rooms for Ethernet, but PoE for 10 exterior cameras.

You can get 500ft Cat 5e boxes off eBay for like ~$20, an extra long 1/2 inch drill bit (for punching through the exterior wall) was like another 20. Most expensive part was probably the metal conduit for the outside runs (I decided to only have 2 or 3 holes to the outside and run the cables in the conduit along the soffit to converge to one of 3 exterior holes for final routing within the house. That was probably 150-250)

All in all after estimating for secondary costs, like screws, brackets, sealant, a caulk gun, ceiling bracket for ceiling routing indoors etc this project was probably <400, pretty cheap as far as home improvement projects go

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago

Lawful- Neutral renter reporting in:

  • Fresh paint and a lot of putty hide a lot of sins
  • Magic erasers ARE magic
  • Home improvement stores just like sell door trim, hardware, etc and they’ll color match paint
  • Most post-inspectors are looking for egregious issues or evidence of a bad fix/cleanup. That’s now your threshold for quality

I fixed an entire doorframe trim and drywall after the back door got kicked in - paint and putty are your friends

[–] [email protected] 59 points 5 months ago (15 children)

Renters have virtually no choice here. I hate it when people state this like it's some damn easy thing for everyone to do.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago (2 children)

The real answer is caching. Instead of writing video to the cloud live and losing all recordings during a wifi outage, it should just cash the last 30ish minutes in case of failure to connect to the cloud. Then once the connection is up again, it just uploads the cached video.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Yes, if you have a $10M villa in LA where you store your priceless art collection invest in hard security. For the average person who just needs video for the insurance company for when some meth head steals their bike from the garage, it's a great solution.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago (6 children)

IMHO, it comes down to your risk, what will make you feel comfortable, and how much money you want to spend. Pulling Ethernet through the walls and patching drywall might not be something you care to do if risk is low.

Also, if someone really wants to not be on camera, they’ll wear a mask, turn the power off at the main panel, etc. That said, there are cameras that can run on battery and store footage locally when they can’t phone home to wherever they deposit video files.

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[–] [email protected] 114 points 5 months ago (17 children)

The thieves are jamming WiFi systems and the comments on the article and on Lemmy seem to blame the victim for not being tech savvy. The bulk of Nest/Ring customers do so because the app is easy to use and the cameras easy to setup. By definition the victims are far less likely to be able to defend against this kind of jamming attack.

If the next step in escalation is to shut down the power to the house, will the victim be blamed for not having home batteries and solar panels?

Why not question the viability of WiFi systems in general? Has video ever been more than a deterrent to those scared of cameras? Fearless thieves who know how to deter the systems get free loot for their trouble.

Treat security like we did before 2010; improve physical security to defend instead of relying on deterrence.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, it's not really a spike in burglaries so much as a spike in a specific tool being used in burglaries. Whether they use a brick, wifi jammer or a gun they were going to rob someone someway...

[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Or a hoodie. I’m not sure why it’s a big g deal to WiFi jam a video doorbell when you can also defeat it with a hoodie …. Plus that’s not a burglar alarm.

Whoever is peddling anything as a burglar alarm that depends on WiFi is the real criminal

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago (1 children)

LAPD is recommending cutting back shrubbery and coordinating with neighbors for extended leave... As a Los Angeles native, neither of these things happen. After all, high walls make for good neighbors.

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[–] [email protected] 78 points 5 months ago

While still hating this living dystopia, I do appreciate some of cyberpunk headlines we get.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 5 months ago (10 children)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yes, he kicked down the Point Of Entry. Also, Power Over Ethernet is the best. It is known.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 months ago (2 children)

And here I thought someone was just saying they like path of exile.

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[–] [email protected] 51 points 5 months ago (3 children)

That's one of the reason I went with a PoE camera. Just make sure your network is isolated so people can't connect to your internal network from the camera Ethernet cable.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago

Or vice versa, connect to your cameras from the rest of your network.

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[–] [email protected] 37 points 5 months ago (5 children)

I wish that apps notified you when your camera has been unreachable for too long, but at least that's a hint that a jammer may have been involved. Cameras won't stop them, but a the best setups would rely on wires and hidden local and cloud storage for recordings and alerts.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago

A numbers of cameras tell the user when they go offline, but yeah, a lot do not. I have a HomeKit system that sends an alert when WiFi or power has been interrupted to the camera or the primary hub.

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[–] [email protected] 37 points 5 months ago (5 children)

If only there was a solution, I don't know, a cable resistent to jamming the ether, something we could call ether-jamming-resistant-network, in short Ethernet

I know... I am just dreaming :-P

[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago (5 children)

It's easy to write snarky comments like this, but the truth is running cables isn't easy, and in some cases simply not possible, at least if you don't want the cable simply draped over the outside of the house.

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 5 months ago (1 children)

before getting away with swag bags full of valuables

So just look for the guy who looks like he's just been to four different network admin conferences?

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 5 months ago (7 children)

However, jammers are illegal to use in the U.S.

What is the point of adding this bit for an article about burglaries?

[–] [email protected] 29 points 5 months ago

They should make burglaries illegal too!

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Because it's relevant? Is this not factual information that readers may or may not have known?

The availability of hardware changes by a not-negligent degree based on the legality of acquiring it.

Curious readers likely find information indicating that these shouldn't be readily available at your local big box store to be pertinent information.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago

They're extra illegal!!!

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Worked at an old job where one guy, that had access to the router settings, would disable the Blink Cameras so he could forge his time cards.

Owners ended up realizing the cameras would only be disabled when he was on shift.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 5 months ago

That screen capture looks like the beginning of a rap video.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 5 months ago (3 children)

i know nothing; would a hardwired connection from the cameras to the router solve this?

[–] [email protected] 25 points 5 months ago (1 children)

yes, assuming the cables are inaccessible from outside. otherwise it would be easy to cut them.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Yes but the camera should be in a place that can't be physically tampered with easily since someone could theoretically unplug the camera and plug into your home network and see all your computers or other devices as if they had stolen your WiFi password. A small risk but it's better to hardwire it somewhere they would need a ladder to get to or get a camera system that connects to a central box inside the house.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 5 months ago (3 children)

This is one of those things I thought would always remain firmly within the realm of science fiction. Watching movies and reading books growing up, movies like "The Matrix" and books like "Snow Crash" and "Neuromancer," I'd always be fascinated with high tech burglary. The idea that one could intercept communications, jam frequencies, or anything of the like, always just seemed a bit too out of reach for modern day criminals. And yet, here we are.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 5 months ago

A jammer is less sophisticated than a crowbar. It's not like the burglar designs it themselves. Nor are they hacking your network to gain access, they just shut everything down.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago (2 children)

It's actually not that high-tech... Like jamming a wifi signal is basically like just shouting over someone to prevent them from speaking (or at least from being heard). To make one from scratch, you need a little bit of technical prowess, but it's definitely a beginner project... But to use one, you literally just turn it on, and maybe choose a frequency. They're widely available and cheap.

There are pretty cool sophisticated digital crimes out there though, so take heart!

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 months ago (7 children)

Sick, where do I get those jammers?

I'm not gonna rob anyone, I just don't want cameras working nearby me.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (2 children)

In my big American metro area, the burglars usually mask up and roll in with swapped plates, a car they stole, or a car they got off a Kia boy for $100-$200. They’re tough to catch in the act or identify with video surveillance, even with a new hardwired or pre-WiFi hardwired system.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Easiest way to avoid this bullshit is to install wired cameras, and such a way that they are not easy to access/cut.

I know someones gonna come in and be all "BUHBUHBUT YOU CAN JUST DESTROY THE CAMERAS" and yeah, thats true.

but you cant destroy the camera from 3 blocks over, you have to get right up on them, and your face/vehicle/other helpful information may just well be caught and recorded before you do. Unlike wifi jamming, which could be done from streets away.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 months ago (4 children)

Wireless cameras and "smart" doorbells shouldn't even be seen as security devices to begin with. They're for verifying your Amazon delivery and checking on the dog and nothing more.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (4 children)

If a burglar is using a wifi-jammers then the basic consumer is not going to be able to stop said burglar. Basic consumer security products aren't designed to do anything more than keep honest people honest. It's much harder & more expensive to prevent a determined criminal from gaining entry and would likely require rethinking housing construction from the foundation up.

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