My friend Joe had his MacBook and iPad stolen from the back of a locked car over Thanksgiving. So far, so normal, right? Well, the thieves only broke the small window immediately adjacent to where his devices were hidden听and only took the backpack containing them.听Police told him it was likely they鈥檇 used a Bluetooth scanner to target his car听and even located exactly where his devices were before breaking into it.
When he texted me about what happened, I turned to Google听to see what a Bluetooth scanner was听and immediately found dozens of smartphone apps. The first one I downloaded didn鈥檛 just show me the signal strengths it detected, it also listed the specific types of devices and even displayed pictures of them鈥攜ou know, for easy identification. Using signal strength as a distance meter, I found the phone my fianc茅e misplaced before she went to work. Another app displayed听a live list of the devices commuters had in their cars while driving past my house. These apps are free听and take no technical know-how or experience whatsoever to use.听While they听aren鈥檛 designed specifically to aid thieves (developers need tools like these when designing Bluetooth accessories), it鈥檇 be hard to imagine a more powerful asset听for criminals.
Bluetooth is a wireless transmission standard that a whole host of devices use to transmit data over short distances. It鈥檚 what your phone uses to pair with your car stereo听and what your AirPods use to connect with your phone. These days听all manner of devices use it, including tablets, laptops, cameras, speakers, and phones鈥攂asically, most things听a thief may want to steal, except for your keys听and cold hard cash. (Although if you use a 听or similar locater dongle on your key chain or in your wallet, then those are听discoverable using a Bluetooth scanner, too.) No pairing or security protocols are necessary;听the scanners simply locate the signal a device emits and then evaluate its strength and frequency. Comparing that data against a database, they鈥檙e able to identify exact devices using a digital fingerprint.
This isn鈥檛 just some crazy theory Joe and I have. California, where he was visiting when his car was broken into,听is currently experiencing an epidemic of vehicle break-ins, and police there report that thieves are using the technology.
鈥淭here are some people, auto burglars, who actually detect that signal and target your car for that,鈥 a San Jose Police Department representative told . San Francisco saw a 24 percent increase in vehicle break-ins between 2016 and听2017, and while 2018听saw a slight decrease, .
This vulnerability has the potential to impact people outside of major cities, too. Where I live in southwest Montana, local web communities around various outdoor activities often light up with reports of vehicle break-ins at popular trailheads. So far听those break-ins seem to follow the usual pattern: smash-and-grabs targeting purses, wallets, or anything of value that might turn up.听They鈥檙e random acts with relatively low payoffs, but an ability to see exactly what your vehicle may be hiding, and calculating that value ahead of time, could encourage thieves to work harder to get into the more inaccessible areas of your vehicle when they know the reward for committing the crime. And because seeing what you鈥檙e hiding only requires a smartphone app, those thieves have the ability to do their sleuthing undetected. One more person staring at their phone in a parking area听isn鈥檛 going to stand out.
So what can you do to keep your stuff safe? Putting a device in airplane mode听or entirely powering it off听will both听work, according to a report in . Some devices may still emit trace Bluetooth signals while sleeping, so closing the lid on your laptop isn鈥檛 enough. For additional protection, you can place those devices in 听or wrap them in . Of course, the safest method remains the same as it always has: treat this as yet another reminder that you shouldn鈥檛 leave valuables in your car听at the听trailhead or anywhere else.