5 ms·

I'd also be concerned about people jamming this from their car, a vulnerability that a $30 motion detector from home depot wouldn't have. Either jamming sets of

I'd also be concerned about people jamming this from their car, a vulnerability that a $30 motion detector from home depot wouldn't have. Either jamming sets off the alarm which opens it up for nightly abuse until you throw it out, or it doesn't set off the alarm and then your house is vulnerable.

smt88 10y ago
Home breakins are crimes of convenience. You're either very rich or very powerful for someone to go to even those lengths to burgle you.
- Anderkent 10y ago
  Are you sure? I think it was a common theme in Poland that the burglars would stake out an area in summer, looking for people leaving for holidays, and break in when they know it's likely to be empty for a couple days. So they're not targeting anyone in particular at first, but it's still not really a crime of convenience the way a mugging or bike theft might be.
  - smt88 10y ago
    I meant that they'll choose the easiest houses, even if they spend effort casing them. I'm sure those Polish burglars were avoiding the riskiest homes.
  - huehehue 10y ago
    This is also basically the plot to Home Alone
MrQuincle 10y ago
Let's set up some reasoning, flawed maybe, but with a few steps. 1. Are you allowed to jam someone's alarm system? I think that might be reason enough to go to the police. The problem is that the police won't have the expertise to do much about it. 2. For a thief it might not be the smartest thing to carry this around or be near, even if it's in a car. It's like a siren. You don't want to draw attention to your location. I can't imagine a burglar carrying this on them. 3. So, as a burglar you'll have to place a jamming device somewhere and have it go off while you're not there for a very short time. Too short for anyone to pinpoint it and a bit randomized over the night. 4. This is a single attack towards the sensors in your home. A combination with the $30 PIR sensor and some sensor fusion would make this attack much harder. The burglar has to blind the PIR sensor with e.g. an infrared light for a while at the same time which is a physical contraption that is harder to hide. (More likely than: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ggVka_zBis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ggVka_zBis :-)). 5. Top it off with microphones and cameras and you're golden. 6. The big question is: "Do people care enough about real-time detection?". I think the largest market is about catching that bastard! If the police can give me some figures - say a 50% probability - that a person will be arrested if I add some camera system, that would resonate with deeper feelings of justice and long-term prevention of this type of behavior. The justice system works quite simple as well "catch someone in the act". If the police only finds stolen jewelry later on, the judge has much shakier grounds to convict someone.
- gruez 10y ago
  1. No, but it's not like the FCC/cops are out there looking for jammers 2. see above 3. park across the street, use a directional antenna to jam them for a few nights before the burglary 4. i would imagine that such sensor will sound an alarm after being blinded (ie. exposed to a strong source of light) 6. as opposed to other alarm systems that are not real time???
  - MrQuincle 10y ago
    1. It assumes smart buglars. So I assume an arms race. 3. How far? 4. That's the point. You'll have to coordinate the jamming if your alarm system uses heterogeneous sensors. 6. My point is that the alarm function might not be the biggest selling point. Getting someone on tape is.

smt88 10y ago

Home breakins are crimes of convenience. You're either very rich or very powerful for someone to go to even those lengths to burgle you.

Anderkent 10y ago
Are you sure? I think it was a common theme in Poland that the burglars would stake out an area in summer, looking for people leaving for holidays, and break in when they know it's likely to be empty for a couple days. So they're not targeting anyone in particular at first, but it's still not really a crime of convenience the way a mugging or bike theft might be.
- smt88 10y ago
  I meant that they'll choose the easiest houses, even if they spend effort casing them. I'm sure those Polish burglars were avoiding the riskiest homes.
- huehehue 10y ago
  This is also basically the plot to Home Alone

MrQuincle 10y ago

Let's set up some reasoning, flawed maybe, but with a few steps. 1. Are you allowed to jam someone's alarm system? I think that might be reason enough to go to the police. The problem is that the police won't have the expertise to do much about it. 2. For a thief it might not be the smartest thing to carry this around or be near, even if it's in a car. It's like a siren. You don't want to draw attention to your location. I can't imagine a burglar carrying this on them. 3. So, as a burglar you'll have to place a jamming device somewhere and have it go off while you're not there for a very short time. Too short for anyone to pinpoint it and a bit randomized over the night. 4. This is a single attack towards the sensors in your home. A combination with the $30 PIR sensor and some sensor fusion would make this attack much harder. The burglar has to blind the PIR sensor with e.g. an infrared light for a while at the same time which is a physical contraption that is harder to hide. (More likely than: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ggVka_zBis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ggVka_zBis :-)). 5. Top it off with microphones and cameras and you're golden. 6. The big question is: "Do people care enough about real-time detection?". I think the largest market is about catching that bastard! If the police can give me some figures - say a 50% probability - that a person will be arrested if I add some camera system, that would resonate with deeper feelings of justice and long-term prevention of this type of behavior. The justice system works quite simple as well "catch someone in the act". If the police only finds stolen jewelry later on, the judge has much shakier grounds to convict someone.

gruez 10y ago
1. No, but it's not like the FCC/cops are out there looking for jammers 2. see above 3. park across the street, use a directional antenna to jam them for a few nights before the burglary 4. i would imagine that such sensor will sound an alarm after being blinded (ie. exposed to a strong source of light) 6. as opposed to other alarm systems that are not real time???
- MrQuincle 10y ago
  1. It assumes smart buglars. So I assume an arms race. 3. How far? 4. That's the point. You'll have to coordinate the jamming if your alarm system uses heterogeneous sensors. 6. My point is that the alarm function might not be the biggest selling point. Getting someone on tape is.