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LAPD warns residents after spike in burglaries using Wi-Fi jammers that disable security cameras, smart doorbells

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.

cmnybo ,

All of my cameras are hard wired. It’s going to take a lot of power to jam those.

ChicoSuave ,

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.

jabathekek ,
@jabathekek@sopuli.xyz avatar

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

FlashZordon ,
@FlashZordon@lemmy.world avatar

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.

wheeldawg ,

Why did they specifically mention to “secure home DVR recorders”?

Other than potentially losing some TV or movies, is that really a big deal next to the other items they mention? It seems really odd to mention one of the least important things.

thanks_shakey_snake ,

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?

IMongoose ,

FCC is gunna start blasting

jpreston2005 ,

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.

Damage ,

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.

thanks_shakey_snake ,

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!

greyfox ,

I would think most wifi jamming is just deauth attacks. It is much easier to just channel hop, enumerate clients, and send them deauthentication packets.

This way you don’t need a particularly powerful radio/antenna, any laptop/hacking tool with Wi-Fi is all you need. There are scripts out there that automate the whole thing, so almost no deep knowledge of wifi protocols are required.

WPA3 has protected management frames to protect against this but most IoT cameras probably don’t support WPA3 yet.

Steve ,

Its like laying on your horn to stop people from hearing each other. Low tech.

henfredemars ,

I’m curious if these are actual jammers or just deauth devices.

It also seems really risky because I think we have three different bands Wi-Fi devices use now?

tryitout ,

What do you mean actual jammer? If it puts out RF at a power level greater than the surrounding environment it is a jammer, correct? I would think for this attack to work you could just target the camera freqs used, you don’t have to target the whole home’s WiFi network. Probably a narrower range to focus on.

henfredemars ,

I don’t think it’s that simple. The newer Wi-Fi standards are broadband (something on the order of 1GHz wide!), so the required power spectral density to block Wi-Fi across all channels is pretty extreme. I don’t think you’re doing that for $40. We should also keep in mind the standards were designed to operate in environments with other unlicensed devices and in the presence of interference.

If you just want to target the frequencies the cameras are using, that would require a little bit of research skill that I think would elude most criminals. Also, some routers will change frequencies if the interference is bad.

If I were building such a device I would use off the shelf Wi-Fi hardware and send deauthentication frames to any nearby stations. But even with this approach, there are devices that will ignore such frames now because it’s been a problem.

CaptainSpaceman ,

WiFi 6 camera probably exist, but most will use WiFi 5 or lower. Theres only 13 channels and of those usually only 3 or ever used due to band overlap.

henfredemars ,

Good point! I forget these devices are rather cheap.

fishos ,
@fishos@lemmy.world avatar

Lol. None of my smart devices will connect to anything other than a 2.5ghz connection. Only my TV will accept 5g. The range is MUCH narrower than you think. Then figure in that the top 5 or 6 companies provide hardware for 90% of peoples home installations and that pool becomes even smaller. Also, a microwave operates on the same frequency as 2.5 and was a common disconnection problem in the past.

This is trivially easy.

PythagreousTitties ,

It’s all just radio signals.

henfredemars ,

Radio can be delightfully complex. I can’t help but be curious.

PythagreousTitties ,

Oh I agree. It’s very cool stuff. It’s pretty amazing what we can do with it.

solsangraal ,

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

teft ,
@teft@lemmy.world avatar

Yes.

kusivittula ,

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

habitualTartare ,

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.

aviation_hydrated ,

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

Fillicia ,

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.

catloaf ,

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

Someonelol ,
@Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

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.

ThePantser ,
@ThePantser@lemmy.world avatar

Don’t use wireless for security, PoE or CCTV

Chozo ,

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

TragicNotCute ,
@TragicNotCute@lemmy.world avatar

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.

ThePantser ,
@ThePantser@lemmy.world avatar

Not that expensive to do it yourself. Getting a fish tape and a cheaper Ethernet termination kit would set you back at most $50. Only other tools you need is a drill and most homeowners should already have that. And a really long bit is cheap at harbour freight.

cm0002 ,

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

hemmes ,
@hemmes@lemmy.world avatar

You can save on all that conduit with direct burial Ethernet.

Milk_Sheikh ,

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

Ghostalmedia ,
@Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world avatar

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.

ThePantser ,
@ThePantser@lemmy.world avatar

My entire 12 camera system is ethernet only which feeds into my server closet and backed up with a battery that can run it for 5 hours. The video clips are sent to telegram for backup.

CaptainSpaceman ,

Most people these days have either a ring doorbell camera or nothing. A very few people have real security cameras hardwired, and even fewer of those have more than 1 camera.

Also, about 1/4 of the ring doorbell cams need their batteries replaced.

PoE/CCTV is def the better option, but youre gonna be hard pressed to get regular folks to make the switch unless this type of burglary becomes endemic.

aviation_hydrated ,

Right?? I don’t understand this attack. People are lazy and far too trusting to have their home feeds uploaded over the internet

EncryptKeeper ,

Cheap wireless cloud connected security cameras are the reason home surveillance is so ubiquitous today. Many people don’t have the know-how to install POE cameras, or it’d cost them too much to pay someone to do it. Plus, if you’re renting your house, putting the holes you’d need where they’re supposed to go is something you might not even be allowed to do.

I fully understand the attack. It’s effective against the majority of people.

aviation_hydrated ,

It’s one of the easier things to DIY though, much easier than setting up a printer or installing a TV. Also, it’s about the same price if not cheaper, I got 1tb harddrive, 4 cameras, cables and and OS for under $200

I’m just tired of these excuses on why we give away our data and then are surprised when their security is trash

EncryptKeeper ,

It’s one of the easier things to DIY though, much easier than setting up a printer or installing a TV

I don’t think that’s true at all, and also like I said before if you rent it’s literally not an option unless you can do it without drilling holes.

Also, it’s about the same price if not cheaper, I got 1tb harddrive, 4 cameras, cables and and OS for under $200

Well no, a Wyze cam is like $25. So that’s not “The same price if not cheaper”, it’s twice the cost.

Lucidlethargy ,

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

aviation_hydrated ,

The landlord might have an incentive to protect their investment

Zorque ,

Burglars stealing whole apartments over here.

capital ,

Can’t have shit in Detroit.

iamjackflack ,

I beg to differ not with that attitude. In most situations you can non permanently get a camera out a window or door without harming anything / risking deposit loss. Only where you have no windows near exit points and a windowless door. But even then you can still atleast have something internal to catch a break in (wired streaming to web).

unexposedhazard ,

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.

jagermo ,

There are some that have local storage in case wifi drops out.

conciselyverbose ,

Easy or not, wireless isn’t secure.

RememberTheApollo_ ,

There’s no OSFA solution. Yeah, it sucks if you’re renting and can’t run cat 6 everywhere. All the same, you can still run a hard wired cam to a NVR/NAS in at least one location inside, but then you face the same difficulty anyone else does of securing the storage from theft - or you can have it upload to a cloud as quickly as is practical so you get off-site storage images and alerts of the theft.

There’s a lot of opportunistic thefts near where I live. Honestly, the odds of actually catching a good image of the thieves’ faces are petty low. If they know enough to jam the wifi, they also probably know enough to hide their faces. The thieves in our area all wear hoodies and hide their faces somehow, so all you get is the alert that someone is there and an image of a hoodied individual.

RememberTheApollo_ ,

Yep. We have a mix of wifi/hard wired PoE. If you can handle crawling around in the attic or wherever, PoE is the easiest and best option. No need to run wiring to any sort of electrical box to power 110v for cams. Wireless is super-easy, but usually you have to pay for cloud services on top of that. Home hard wired with an NVR or NAS is the way to go.

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