Motor vehicle owners face many new cyber challenges. Learn how to keep your vehicle safe from cyber criminals targeting automobiles.
As criminals are getting smarter about Motor Vehicle Theft, you should become more aware of ways to protect your vehicle from falling victim. Vehicle manufacturers are making changes to help combat theft but there are steps individuals can take immediately.
What car companies are doing
When you discover your vehicle is stolen, companies, such as OnStar, have vehicle theft plans in place. OnStar is a system available on certain Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac models. The Stolen Vehicle Assistance program allows you “utilize GPS technology designed to locate your vehicle, alert authorities, and in some cases, remotely slow down your vehicle so thieves won’t get far.”
Toyota has also come out with a similar feature on their cars called Safety Connect. When your vehicle is stolen, “agents can assist authorities in locating your vehicle using GPS technology.”
This technology will help to recover your stolen vehicle. Even the knowledge of this technology existing in these vehicles will prevent theft.
Finding Solutions
Companies should consider other options to further the effort to reduce vehicle theft. This could be as simple as an on/off switch on key fobs. Another solution could be to increase the encryption making the data more difficult to duplicate onto outside devices.
Protecting yourself against Motor Vehicle Theft
To minimize the risk of your vehicle being stolen beyond recovery there are a few things that consumers can do:
Place your key fob in a metal tin, aluminum foil, or in Faraday Bag when not in use. Metals can help to interfere with radio frequencies criminals use to unlock and start your vehicle.
Keep your key fob far away from windows and doors when not in use.
Remove the battery from key fob when not in use.
Use a Steering Wheel Lock to physically secure the steering column and deter potential thieves.
Keep your vehicle in a locked garage when possible.
Subscribe to a vehicle tracking security service that will alert you whenever your vehicle is departing from a location.
Consider adding a tracker (such as Apple AirTag) somewhere inside your vehicle, so if it is stolen, you have the means of identifying where the vehicle was transported to.
Install a video surveillance system (such as the Ring doorbell camera system) that will alert you whenever a person trespasses onto your property.
Park your vehicle in well lit and visible parking lot location.
Summary
Overall, as vehicles get smarter, hackers do too. It’s important to take the necessary precautions to protect yourself from vehicle theft. Before buying a new vehicle, research vehicle models that use higher encryption and have reliable anti-theft systems in place. Consider buying a vehicle that requires insertion of your key in order to start. Even better, go for a vintage automobile that lacks any solid state components and your vehicle should be resistant to any such radio frequency attacks.
Clerk Yarbrough sits down with Lee Neubecker, President & CEO of Enigma Forensics to discuss the current state of affairs. Clerk Yarbrough assures everyone voting on Tuesday, March 17 voters will be met with a clean and safe environment. Come and Vote and March 17!
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough Gives Safe Voting Practices
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough would like voters to know her staff is taking every precaution to make all voting stations a safe and clean environment. On top of her list, everyone should wash your hands! She says all voting staff will continuously wipe down all surfaces and are trained to keep the stations clean. Clerk Yarbrough urges everyone to remember the rules your mother gave you!…Wash your hands, sneeze into your sleeve and if you have a fever stay home from work, don’t go out and stay in and take care of yourself. Clerk Yarbrough sits down with Lee Neubecker, President & CEO of Enigma Forensics to discuss the current state of affairs.
Check out this video interview to find out what precautionary steps the Clerk’s department has taken to make sure each voting office stays safe.
Election Day is on Tuesday, March 17
Clerk Yarbrough says Keep Calm, We are on the Job!
Lee Neubecker: Hi, this is Lee Neubecker, president of Enigma Forensics, computer forensics firm based here in Cook County in Chicago. And I had the pleasure of having our very own Cook County Clerk, Karen Yarbrough, here on the show to talk a little bit about what her office is doing to help keep people safe, in light of the recent corona outbreak. Karen, thanks for being on the show.
Clerk Karen Yarbrough: Thank you, Lee. Well, you know, this is a really busy time for us and we have a number of, we have our regular employees and then we have a lot of people, almost 8,000 people, who will be involved in the election on the 17th. So we want everyone to be safe. So in the office, what we’re doing is, first of all, we’re educating people. Now, some of this stuff is just common sense. I mean, people should know to wash their hands. They absolutely should know that. They also should know that if you have to sneeze, you don’t sneeze out like that, you go like this, okay? I mean, didn’t your mom teach you that? I mean, mine did, so. So the education or bringing it back to people on how we can keep safe. So our people have, they have obviously Purell. They have the gloves if they want to wear them. They also have, they clean their work stations. So we have everything that they need and we have a big influx of people for several reasons and especially in vitals and in elections and so we want everyone to be safe.
LN: So with the election fast approaching, I know that previously you were on the show to talk about early voting, in trying to get people to pull a ballot so that they could vote from home. It’s too late for that now, but what would you advise that people should do as they’re heading to the polls?
CY: Well, hopefully they’ll have a card or some information on who they want to vote for. They’re going to find our brand new voting machines there and it’ll probably take them all of two or three minutes to vote this time. So the ease of voting, they’re going to find friendly faces there and people who are willing to help them. We have the touchscreens and we also have paper ballots if people want to use ’em. But we’re encouraging people to use the touchscreen. If you want to use your finger, then you can wipe your finger off with, and we have everything there. I mean, absolutely.
LN: Like Purell?
CY: Absolutely, we have everything there. They could use a pen to do this, you know. They could use their, bring their own pen if they want to fill out a paper ballot. So, you know, again we’re telling people use some common sense here as it relates to, you know, today and all through the last few days, what I’ve been doing is going to the early voting polling places and so I’ve met all of the judges and I see the way that they’re greeting people. They’re not shaking hands, they’re doing fist bumps or arm bumps. Yeah, like that or whatever, but they are not shaking hands. So, you know, as I’ve looked, and we’ve been looking at, watching what’s coming out of Washington, what’s coming out–
LN: Even here in Chicago
CY: Absolutely.
LN: Yesterday we had the Prudential building had their first case.
CY: Yeah, how about that? How about that? But you know what? For the most part, 80% of the people who contract it in the first place, they’re going to be fine. Children are going to be fine. It’s people who have compromised systems that have the problems. And older people. I get all of that, but people can be safe and they can be competent, use common sense and be safe.
LN: Yeah, like not jumping on an airline when you know you’ve tested positive. I don’t think you should do that if you have Corona Virus.
CY: Don’t come to work sick. We’re sending people home. Anybody’s around there sniffling or what have you or they don’t feel well, if they have a fever. If you got a fever, you ought to be at home. You shouldn’t be with us.
LN: And just because you have a fever, you shouldn’t be flipping out thinking you have Corona Virus.
CY: Not at all, not at all.
LN: They say that you need to have three specific symptoms combined to worry about it. You need body aches, fever, plus respiratory problems. So if you don’t have all of three of those, don’t bug your doctor. The doctors are under control.
CY: Don’t panic.
LN: Unless you, if you have a fever that runs awhile, call but don’t. Then you should assume that you have Corona Virus.
CY: I’m hoping that we get some better information out of Washington, though. There have been mixed messages there, so let’s hope that we can get better information out of Washington as well as what we need. I noticed that out governor was pretty frustrated about his inner workings with the federal government on what we need in Illinois. So let’s hope that they get that together.
LN: Yeah, absolutely. Well, thanks for being on the show again.
CY: Thank you.
Watch related videos to this series with Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough
Lee Neubecker, President and CEO of Enigma Forensics has a chat with the Cook County Clerk, Karen Yarbrough, on how to stay safe during the epidemic when going out to vote.
Lee Neubecker, President and CEO of Enigma Forensics has a chat with the Cook County Clerk, Karen Yarbrough, on how to stay safe during the epidemic when going out to vote.
The transcript of the video follows.
Lee Neubecker (LN): Hi, it’s Lee Neubecker from Enigma Forensics. I am a computer forensics and cyber consultant. And I have the pleasure of having Karen Yarbrough, our very own Cook County clerk here on the show to talk about today’s deadline for voting early. Karen, thanks for being on the show.
Karen Yarbrough (KY): My pleasure. So Lee, what I’d like to do today is just simply tell people, please, go online, like right now. Don’t put it off. Don’t wait until March 17th. Now, you know, that’s Saint Patrick’s Day, but it’s also election day. And we just asked if people take the time out today and go online and order your ballot, right now. Just right now, go to cookcountyclerk.com. It’ll come right up on the screen, click the button and you’re in there. And all you have to do is put your information in. We’ll send you your ballot, and we’ll also send you a return addressed envelope, no postage. We’re going to pay for it.
LN: So in light of all the concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, this is a great way to help protect yourself, especially if you’re elderly. Everyone should be doing this.
KY: Absolutely, they should. And I have to tell you that we’re kind of ahead. I’m just looking at the numbers when I was coming over here today, and we’re at record numbers right now for voting. You know, we have our early voting sites all throughout Cook County, and they’re open until seven o’clock. And so people can actually show up there today too.
LN: But right now, if someone wanted right now to do this and get a ballot sent to them at home, what address do they go to do that?
KY: Cookcountyclerk.com.
LN: And right on the homepage, physically.
KY: Absolutely. It’s right on the homepage. They can’t miss it.
LN: And it only takes what? A minute?
KY: Oh my goodness, if it takes a minute. I mean, if you know how to spell your name and your address and your zip code. I mean, that’s what you have to do.
LN: So then I’d encourage anyone that is in a nursing home or works in a nursing home, to help those people get their early ballot, so they don’t have to go to a polling place where they’re going to be around other people. And that way they get their ballot and vote.
KY: Well people who are in nursing homes, we usually have a nursing home election. But this year because of this coronavirus, we’re not doing that. Everybody who wants a ballot, we’re going to take the ballots there to the nursing home and have them to complete the ballots, and then we’ll bring ’em back.
