Suspected burglar used Wi-Fi jammers to disable linked cameras, authorities say

Criminals are carrying out a series of burglaries in the United States, deactivating modern cameras with a Wi-Fi jammer.

Police in Edina, Minnesota, in the northern United States, are investigating a series of nine burglaries involving a similar modus operandi, reported Tom's Hardware on February 14. According to a local TV channel, the criminals are using Wi-Fi jammers to turn off modern cameras in houses in residential suburbs.

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Investigators believe burglars start by observing each home and the habits of the owners. If they spot connected cameras, they wait for the occupants to leave the house before activating their Wi-Fi jammers which will disrupt the connection of the surveillance devices. These objects, which are easily found on the web for a few hundred euros, but whose use is highly regulated in France, can overload the connection of a particular network.

A portable WiFi jammer. // Source: YouTube
A portable Wi-Fi jammer. // Source: YouTube

An increasingly used burglary technique

The investigation is still ongoing in Minnesota. This process would be increasingly common in the United States, obviously to develop a new tactic in the face of the popularization of connected cameras (Amazon Ring, Google Nest), the price of which is ever more affordable – which facilitates their generalization in homes .

Similar cases have also been recorded in the United Kingdom and France over the past five years. Remember, however, that these operating methods are not common either. Experts point out that there is a solution, opting for systems capable of alerting individuals as soon as their surveillance devices are suddenly disconnected.

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Source: NumeramaSource: Numerama

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