Burglars are using pocket-sized Wi-Fi jammers to disable wireless security systems and block 911 calls. Kurt the Cyber Guy explains how the illegal devices work and recommends hard-wired sensors, landlines, and professional alarm systems with tamper detection to protect your home.
Well, burglars across the country getting more and more creative, as police in New Jersey are warning that criminals are now turning to Wi-Fi jammers to disable home security systems and prevent you from calling 911. The police department warning that sophistication of it, quote, suggests the suspect was part of what has been termed a South American theft group, and they monitor your home before the crime. So they case the joint. Here with what you need to know, Kurt the Cyber Guy. Kurt, so we might think we're secure, but they're going to the next level.
Brother Pete, good morning to you. Yeah, it's important you understand how this works. So we have sophisticated burglars now that are now— they're, they're simply going and proving that it may be really smart to keep that landline phone at home and don't rely strictly on wireless. There's an uptick in these home burglaries that are using those Wi-Fi jammers that disable security cameras or wireless intrusion sensors on your windows and doors. And some Wi-Fi blockers also can block cellular signals. The one we just showed you that has a lot of the antennas coming out of it make it really difficult for you to call 911 when someone's trying to rob your house. Can you imagine that? Well, Wi-Fi blockers like these are illegal, but they are available on the black market. They're under $1,000. These crooks are getting them. About the size of a cell phone, can fit in the robber's pocket or their backpack. They go undetected. And fact of the matter is they're in great prevalence now. We're seeing them in various states popping up. Here's what you want to do to avoid this. What do you do? Keep your house safe. Right. Use hardwired alarm sensors and cameras when you're able to instead of wireless ones. Have an old-fashioned landline phone ready to call 911. If you don't have that, might be worth putting that back in. Keep your wireless router software updated, and then watch for strangers lingering around the outside of your home or in your neighborhood within the range of your wireless network, because that's a, that's a tip-off right there. Professional alarm systems with encryption are a lot better than those DIY cheaper ones. Many of the name-brand professional ones that are installed have what's called RF tampering detection. That means that when someone's trying to jam it, you might get a notification on your phone or your alarm system could warn you that that's going on. So that's a really good way to do it. We've got a review of the pros and cons of the best home security systems at my website at cyberguy.com. And as the newsletter goes out today to the subscribers in about, oh, about 40 minutes on that, there's a checklist you can go through. And also my theory is this, you know, I used to have the old ADT system It was fine. And then I went to a newer one. There's a pile of them that are really good. The one I picked was Vivint. And I think we actually had it on the show at some point. I was talking with a guy, I went like, I wanna check that out. It was so compelling that I got it. And what they do, they'll come out and just assess things for free. And that's one of the things, if you suspect that you are in a neighborhood where this could happen with these burglars that are using these jammers, I would just have any of these really good alarm companies come out, just give you an estimate for free and see what it's all about. See all of them at the website. And I, you know, we've did an extensive review on them.
And this is New Jersey, but I got to believe this is something that is impacting people nationwide. Is this a regional thing at this point, or is it everywhere?
We've got Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, we've got California, we've got 2 other states that are on the list. And those are just the ones where they've identified the jammer actually in use.
Wow. You can carry a jammer in a backpack, which means everything around you is jammed in real time. Check it all out at cyberguy.com. .com so you can protect against these threats. Kurt, thanks for joining us this morning.
