How Burglars Surveil Your Home

​We often report on the disturbing growth of surveillance camera systems in the hands of government, whether it’s through expansion of networks at city intersections, or convincing citizens to hand over video from their Ring and other private camera systems. We’ve reported on police aiming a camera at a home to create a 24-hour stakeout over eight months.
 
Now a new threat is emerging – criminals are leveraging these same surveillance tools for stakeouts to determine the best time to clean out your house.
 
For years, burglars have scouted out target homes by posing as salesmen or dressing up as repairmen or utility workers. But that required shoe leather and a certain degree of risk. A report by Nathan Solis of The Los Angeles Times uncovers a troubling trend in Southern California going nationwide – criminals are installing hidden cameras in residential yards. Burglars are planting hidden cameras wreathed in plastic leaves and inserted into bushes to stake out unsuspecting homeowners’ yards to monitor the comings and goings of family members in order to plan their crimes with precision.
 
Wi-Fi jammers, illegal to possess but legal to sell, are also often used to disable home security systems when the break-in does occur.
 
In the face of such a threat, what can we do? The Times offers proactive steps you can take to protect against surveillance-enabled burglars.
 
First, if you spot such a device you should alert police immediately, so law enforcement can track the secret trackers. You should have an electrician hardwire your burglary alarm with cables that go direct into your router so it cannot be turned off. Put a padlock on your circuit-breaker to further protect against someone turning off the power to your alarm system. Have lights activated by motion detectors and harden your points of entry. The Times also reports that police recommend placing Apple Air Tags or some other tracker placed inside a few valuables to allow the police to track your items if they should be stolen.
 
In any event, as with the deep infiltration of the phones of police and journalists by cartels with “zero-day” software, we should expect any new surveillance technology in the hands of the government and law enforcement will wind up in the hands of criminals as well.