House upside down: why thieves jam Wi-Fi before stealing
The May holidays are the season of thefts from homes, committed, as a rule, by guest performers. Security system experts believe that Chinese sensors from international flea markets are often useless, and urge not to skimp on security. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Three degrees of protection
A "Guarded" sticker on the front door or a light bulb by the window will scare away a novice criminal from an apartment or cottage. A professional apartment thief (and there are many who travel between regions of the country) is usually well aware of the "life hacks" against theft found on the Internet.
Sergey Vladimirov, an expert in the field of residential and non-residential premises security, divides protection into three levels.
— The May holidays are the best time to understand what level you are at, — says the interlocutor of Izvestia.
He calls the first echelon of protection an imitation of presence.
— Smart sockets that turn on lights and radios, plus wireless sensors with a local siren. Such kits cost 3-5 thousand rubles. What do they give? They'll scare away drunken teenage bullies. But this will only make a trained thief angry. He knows the main thing: the signal has not gone anywhere, the siren stops after five minutes, and the GBR (rapid response team) will not arrive because it is not there in principle.
The second degree of protection is when the owner assumes the function of preventing a crime.
— As a rule, we are talking about GSM alarm systems for 15-25 thousand rubles. This is more serious. Motion sensors, glass breaking, door opening. When triggered, notifications, calls, and camera photos are sent to your phone. But there is a caveat. You have to react. And if you are in the "gray zone" of communication, in the country? Or have you put your phone on silent mode while you're grilling kebabs? The thief will take away all the equipment in five minutes.
Counterattack
According to the expert, cheap GSM alarms are jammed with the simplest 1.5 thousand rubles signal breaker, which can be bought on Chinese marketplaces. The most effective protection of the house is remote security and "smart" systems, that is, the third echelon, Vladimirov believes.
— Industrial solutions — from 40 thousand rubles with installation. The signal is duplicated not only to you, but also to the data processing center of the security company. The departure of the rapid response team takes 3-7 minutes," explains Vladimirov.
He notes that professional systems do not use standard Wi-Fi or open GSM frequencies, but proprietary packet-encrypted radio channels. An attempt to silence the signal itself becomes an alarm. Plus, backup power for 12-24 hours, which allows the system to work even with a power outage.
— If you're going away for more than a night in May, don't skimp on your own peace of mind. A broken-in door and stolen equipment will cost much more than a good alarm system.
According to the Russian Interior Ministry, 1.2 thousand apartment thefts were registered in the first two months of this year. This is almost a third less than the same indicator in 2025.
Adult imitation
It is difficult to overestimate the effectiveness of a smart home, especially during the May holidays. While everyone is leaving, the risk of not only theft, but also various accidents, such as flooding, is growing.
— The neighbors above may forget to turn off the faucet, and then the sensors of leakage of water, gas and smoke will save you from trouble, — says IT expert Konstantin Parfenyev.
Modern systems allow you to set up a "Vacation" scenario in which smart sockets randomly turn on lights in different rooms, open and close curtains, and broadcast radio through a smart speaker.
— A thief who has been watching the house for two or three days sees activity and cannot figure out if there is someone alive inside. As a rule, he chooses a simpler goal and goes to a neighbor," explains Parfenyev.
He notes that the new radar sensors at a frequency of 60 GHz "see" even the micro-movements of the chest when breathing. It is impossible to hide, the alarm will go off even from a stationary person, and for a cottage it is important that such sensors run on batteries for up to three years.
Autonomous protection
Parfenyev notes that the most common problem in rural settlements is unstable Internet or power outages.
— If your smart home is connected only to the cloud and the router, it can hardly be useful if the wire is broken. I recommend duplicating the communication channels. Look for systems with Thread or Zigbee protocol support. They create their own independent network inside the house.
According to him, the GSM modem in the control system is suitable for Russia. If the electricity and Wi-Fi go out, the house will send you an SMS via the cellular network.
Thefts are decreasing
Analytical data from the police indicate a decrease in the number of thefts in large cities. However, in isolated regions, especially in rural areas, theft with home invasion remains relevant. In April, a man was detained in Cheboksary, suspected of a series of thefts at the Komsomolsky farming co-op. The crimes were committed back in March — in one case, a man broke a window pane and broke into a house, in another, he tore off the padlock on the door. The possible thief turned out to be the applicants' neighbor.
In the Lipetsk region, a case has appeared in court on charges of a series of thefts of construction tools from dachas.
"Thieves most often take tools, household appliances and alcohol from households," said a police source in the Yaroslavl region. — The vast majority of such thefts that I have had to deal with are committed by people suffering from alcohol or drug addiction.
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