Last year burglars out of Long Beach, California did something interesting. Without so much as jimmying a door handle or breaking a window, they were able to enter seven vehicles and steal lucratively from them. On camera it appeared quite simple. They went up to the vehicle door, the hood light appeared to go on and afterwards the door unlocked. The burglars foraged valuables and then left. As keyless computer based technology increases, unfortunately so do new hacking tactics.
How you can avoid an automotive break in.
When an electronic-based theft happens, it’s unique to the situation, but not totally unique outside of that. All thefts occur for the same purpose. A theft occurs because the thief sees or needs something valuable which you have. To prevent thefts, don’t assume your complete vehicle security when you hit the locking button on your car. If you’ve left your tablet, phone, painting, or other valuable in plain sight, there’s little one wouldn’t do to obtain those objects if they so desired.
To add to the threat, these electronic burglars can hack an automotive computer system seamlessly. As seen in this video above, the burglars don’t even trip an alarm. They don’t signal the obvious in any way. They very comfortably just open the door and take what they want. But, if you have nothing to take, you must have nothing to offer them. If certain automotive companies are put to risk by these types of hackers consider researching the ones that aren’t before you purchase your next vehicle. Here are other suggestions:
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Park in safe but active areas
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Don’t leave valuables in plain sight
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Don’t forget to lock your door
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Know where and when you parked your vehicle
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Notice if there are any security cameras or guards in the area
Research before purchase
When people purchase a vehicle they want to know about its safety rating and its performance. The things they’d like to know are usually very basic. How does the car handle? What color is it? What kind of amenities, bells and whistles does it offer the consumer? Does it have heated seats and online connectivity? But, hardly ever do people look into how secure the automotive vehicle is for break-ins. Vehicles that are prone to break-ins usually don’t change too often from year to year. This gives the burglar time to understand all the working parts and how they may be able to quickly gain access to them. 800,000 cars are stolen in America every year. Here are the most stolen/broken in cars:
1994 Honda Accord
1998 Honda Civic
2006 Ford F-150
1991 Toyota Camry
2000 Dodge Caravan
1994 Acura Integra
1999 Chevy Silverado
2004 Dodge Ram
2002 Ford Explorer
1994 Nissan Sentra
Automotive user error
You may not be able to completely see to it that your vehicle doesn’t get broken into, but you can go to great lengths to prevent the event from happening. After reading this, hopefully you don’t create an obvious user error which puts you at risk. Now, go keep your vehicle safe. Follow some of our suggestions and don’t wait for security technology to catch up to these thieves.