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] 17 points 2 months ago (2 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] 10 points 1 month ago (1 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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Alternative is like… a single gigabyte of local storage on these things

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That could just as easily be stolen

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It depends how easy to reach the camera is, I can't see a thief sticking around long enough to set up a ladder to grab the camera, for example.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

If they’re setting up a WiFi jammer, a ladder wouldn’t be an absurd thought.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

They'd have the jammer already set up, either in a vehicle or on their person. A ladder is much more conspicuous.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

As a side business I consult and install security systems in small businesses and homes.

Literally none of them want the cable option, no matter how hard I push it.

The cost of running the cable and the time needed always is the dealbreaker.

Doesn't matter if its insecure, they just want it to work now and be cheap.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's bizarre.

In my last apartment, I literally had to fight to get a DHCP/ethernet + EDGE (yes, really) connection installed.

They kept asking me why I want two 😅

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

wdym DHCP?
And what's an "EDGE" supposed to be? I only know that term as the old mobile standard. I believe it was 1G or 2G?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago

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

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (1 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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Its also to help police with investigations. POE cameras and doorbells won't have this specific weakness, they'll probably still get in and steal all your valuables, but if they think thier wifi jammer is working you might get some footage thats useful for the cops...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Then the burglars will just upgrade to a device that sends an EMP to disable everything. If it’s worth it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Hope they forget to put a fadaray cage around their cells.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Don't use wireless for security, PoE or CCTV

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

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] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (2 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.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (12 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] 1 points 2 months ago

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] 3 points 2 months ago (1 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.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (7 children)
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[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (2 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] 1 points 2 months ago

It doesn't hurt to hide or disguise the cameras to make them difficult to spot. That way, burglars wouldn't even try to find and break their server if they're not noticed.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (2 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.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Own a musket for home defense, since that's what the founding fathers intended. Four ruffians break into my house. "What the devil?" As I grab my powdered wig and Kentucky rifle. I blow a golf ball sized hole through the first man, he's dead on the spot. I draw my pistol on the second man, miss him entirely because it's smoothbore and nails the neighbors dog. I have to resort to the cannon mounted at the top of the stairs loaded with grape shot, "Tally ho lads" the grape shot shreds two men in the blast, the sound and extra shrapnel set off car alarms. Fix bayonet and charge the last terrified rapscallion. He Bleeds out waiting on the police to arrive since triangular bayonet wounds are impossible to stitch up. Just as the founding fathers intended.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Something tells me that systems will just have a strong dummy wireless signal act as a tripwire and then it goes down, it triggers stuff...even super low end stuff could implement it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

A massive net to catch the baddies

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

That's why wireless security devices are a joke. And it is not only WiFi, this is BlueTooth and other protocols like that, too.

Good security (and common sense, too) would be to have such devices wired up. And check the spectrum for jammers and raise an alarm about that, too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Well, if it's not on a WiFi network, it'll be fine. CCTV is a great example of this. Just wire up some cameras, encrypt the harddrive and put it somewhere difficult to get to. Only way to disable all cameras at once would be an EMP. There are kits for a few hundred $ and all the data stays local

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Or just flip off the main switch on your breaker if they can get to that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Totally. Get a PSU? Or use solar with a PSU. Or batteries. Always a mitigation for the mitigation lol

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