Laptops Stolen From Cars
Colleagues had a car broken into and laptops stolen in downtown Mountain View last night while we were at dinner. We wondered how they knew to break into the hatchback when it is not see- through.
They turn on bluetooth scanners and follow the beacon to find electronics.
There are probably Wi-Fi signals, too, if the Mac is in Power Nap. I guess it’s better to shut down instead of leaving it in sleep.
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This smells like urban folklore.
What are the chances that theives are using BT scanners, vs just that breaking into a random car parked in the evening in downtown Mtn View will have laptops in it?
Considering you can make a bluetooth scanner with $5 of parts (nrf24l01 chip, arduino nano, battery holder, maybe haptic feedback or a light, or even a screen for $5 extra), probably very good.
It would probably help if people would name their computers something nonsensical instead of it showing up on Bluetooth as "Bob's Macbook Pro" or whatever.
Yep - I name my stuff after WoW references. Last machine was "Argus"
>Considering you can make a bluetooth scanner with $5 of parts (nrf24l01 chip,
>arduino nano, battery holder, maybe haptic feedback or a light, or even a
>screen for $5 extra), probably very good.
That wouuld be a proper Ocean's Eleven type situation for people who just break into cars, though. If they did in fact use a bluetooth scanner, it's probably some kind of Android app.
@No Name
I have used stuff from games as well. My tastes tend to reflect to slightly obscure stuff from the 1990s, but same strategy. To be fair, if they can see the MAC address, can't they figure out the manufacturer? If so inclined anyway.
Just set to hibernate after 10 seconds or so of regular sleep. Your MBP will be quiet as a mouse. More secure anyway, whether you leave it in your car or not.