Vehicle Security

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Gadgets
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Vehicle Security

Post by Gadgets »

After helplessly dealing with the theft of one of our members stolen SUT thoughts were kicked around at that time how to best protect our investments. After reading a lot of information, I decided to go with the Mastergard M6000 Vehicle Immobilizer system. It is one of only 3 systems approved by Transport Canada, and the Insurance Bureau of Canada. It has to be installed by a trained, and approved Mastergard installer, under controlled surrounding, aka no prying eyes. It is my truck, and my system yet I do not know how it was installed. The guy was great, he showed me the system (every wire is black that comes out of it) so there are no identifying wires. They randomly pick what 3 systems will be disabled so they are not always the same, and do not tell us what they have connected or not connected. It is all automatic and controlled by a keyfob on your key ring. You are also given a master keyfob used only for programming, so in the event your keys were lost of stolen you can immediately delete that missing keyfob from the system. The installation was excellent, other then the LED on my dash that tells me the status, I would never know anything got installed.



The guy who installed it was great, very friendly, and extremely knowledgable, which was good for me, seeing as I was in the security business for 20+ years.



These things are not cheap, but then neither are our Hummers. My install cost $706 after taxes, that included the M6000= $550, and a interface module (optional)=$75. The interface module is there in case I ever want to install a remote starter. I figured for $75 it's there, otherwise it is a lot more labour to install, and would have to get the Mastergard installer involved. With the interface module installed I can go with any remote car starter I choose.



The installers information is found here http://www.vrss.ca and information on the system is here http://www.mastergard.com/
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WIDELOAD
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Re: Vehicle Security

Post by WIDELOAD »

Gadgets, is there a tracking option available for a montly fee, like the Boomerang?



I have been trying to decide what security system to go with and just cannot decide. I was thinking a Viper alarm mixed with a Boomerang, total cost of about $1000 to get going and then $20/month to track the vehicle, etc. BUT this system you mention soudns like it may be better.
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Gadgets
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Re: Vehicle Security

Post by Gadgets »

[quote name='WIDELOAD' timestamp='1322012282' post='32981']

Gadgets, is there a tracking option available for a montly fee, like the Boomerang?



I have been trying to decide what security system to go with and just cannot decide. I was thinking a Viper alarm mixed with a Boomerang, total cost of about $1000 to get going and then $20/month to track the vehicle, etc. BUT this system you mention soudns like it may be better.

[/quote]



I had concidered a Boomerang system as well, but that means the truck has already been stolen by the time you need it. With the 6 Nations Reservation involved in our area Boomerang would quite likely be to little to late. With the M6000 they are approaching 250,000 installs in Manitoba alone with ZERO thefts. The way I looked at it, is the truck might be empty if it got broken into, but it would still be where I left it. Plus, no monthly fee. I'm not a fan of on going fees. In my H2 you would be hard pressed to even find anything in regards to this system other then the LED on the dash, the guy does a great job.

As for tracking, no it does not offer tracking. Not much reason to track something that can't be driven away. I mean it could be towed I supposed, but that is not a crime of opportunity like most auto thefts are. Also one of the random options they may, or may not connect makes even towing very difficult. I suppose if you want the ultimate, put the M6000 and a Boomerang system in. <img src='http://www.canadianhummerclub.com/forum ... lleyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':rolleyes:' />
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Re: Vehicle Security

Post by Hesh »

Quite honestly, dont believe all the hype they feed you about our provincially-mandated program in Manitoba. The only reason there hasnt been any thefts is because the brains behind our governmentally controlled insurance (no option for private insurers) deemed that any incident when a vehicle is broken into (even in cases of them tampering with the ignition) is ONLY, without exception, considered a vandalism. I know of personally of vehicles that have been stolen with the immobilizer program, and any crooked tow-truck driver (we have a few questionable companies here) or a theif with a trailer can winch & trailer/flat-deck away in a few minutes, and with even more ease when your vehicle doesnt have a tilt-sensor equipped alarm.



Besides, break-in, or joy-ride theft (the majority of successful car thefts here are for this purpose) youre still paying your deductible at the end of the day, and 'enjoying' being thrust into the game of vehicle repairs and insurance company dealings etc.



I believe, in some respect, with the concept of the device, however its implementation in Manitoba, and it's lack of fail-safes far outweigh its perceived benefits for me. I hope it works out for you though and provides you the security and/or peace of mind that it should.
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Re: Vehicle Security

Post by Gadgets »

It is the same as any security system in or on anything. If someone REALLY wants it, it will be taken, all you can do is reduce the potential, or make it as difficult as possible for the thief. It is the same as a home or business security system. They don't prevent the break-in but they do reduce what is taken, or damaged. With all the car thefts in my area, none have been towed or put on flatbeds/trailers. And yes it does give me piece of mind. <img src='http://www.canadianhummerclub.com/forum ... rgreen.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':mrgreen:' />
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Re: Vehicle Security

Post by shotgun-cam »

Having worked in security field most companies use the " hit the neighbours system ".That is make your property or system so hard to get the thief hits the neighbours first.
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GreenMeanie
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Re: Vehicle Security

Post by GreenMeanie »

The best protection is to give the car thieves something to worry about.



You have to set them up the same way they set you up.

Doing damage to the theft networks and promoting it boldly and aggresively will result in word traveling fast through the crime channels who typicaly do not want attention.

And still, Police typicaly won't act until way to late in the process so they are usless for the most part and will not allocate time to the issue with any positive effect at least pre-emptively.. and that can work to the benifit of both sides from a legal standpoint.

I believe Monitoring and survielance using covert methods is the only way to achieve any sort of victory against these networks and you must get used to the fact that no one is going to do that effectively for you as a service and steps must be taken as an owner to protect your investment yourself and/or create your own group security models.

The one good thing the cops can do is provide statisical info on where crimes are being committed. The rest is up to you.

Consider this slightly more proactive view.

First you must find out who these nice people are by way of collecting info like getting pictures, video, plate numbers, cell numbers, e mails and so forth and publishing the info on a series of secret web servers and promote their violations in a public way using the internet.

As an example at my shop i had hookers and crack heads hanging out in the lane way at all hours and i found that video taping live to the web worked wonders at reducing the number of illicit blow jobs and drug deals going down in the alley. Most important is, Tell them your doing it and give the URL out. They will check!!! In my case it took about a month and there has been no issues since.

In recent years, better mobile remote networking capabilities gives us an economical advantage when fighting these types of crimes. Installing hidden camera's and isolated power supplies and other counter measures in our trucks to capture faces and much other info and wirelessly sending it real time to a server that keeps track of the info has become an easy task.. Might not stop your car from being stolen but imagine the surprise when they get to the reserve and they find the hidden camera with the url to the server stamped on there and they go check on a computer.

A lot of car thieves can get very crafty using laptop scanning devices to detect entry codes and the presences of networks. There are ways you can do the same in reverse and as they query your network you can potentialy handshake or sniff out index.dat files or other registry info off their laptop identifing the computer and likely the person and all of thier friends and contacts and even locations. Up until recently a lot of this was used and still is in the CIA CSIS and other groups and can tranlate well into our lives by way of new technology that is available.

Still, someone has to set it all up and a team of reasonably intelligent folks with some inititive and the ability to work quietly have to be put together to make it happen. No shortage of those types of folks here!!!!
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Re: Vehicle Security

Post by Gadgets »

[quote name='GreenMeanie' timestamp='1322112607' post='33010']

The best protection is to give the car thieves something to worry about.



You have to set them up the same way they set you up.

Doing damage to the theft networks and promoting it boldly and aggresively will result in word traveling fast through the crime channels who typicaly do not want attention.

And still, Police typicaly won't act until way to late in the process so they are usless for the most part and will not allocate time to the issue with any positive effect at least pre-emptively.. and that can work to the benifit of both sides from a legal standpoint.

I believe Monitoring and survielance using covert methods is the only way to achieve any sort of victory against these networks and you must get used to the fact that no one is going to do that effectively for you as a service and steps must be taken as an owner to protect your investment yourself and/or create your own group security models.

The one good thing the cops can do is provide statisical info on where crimes are being committed. The rest is up to you.

Consider this slightly more proactive view.

First you must find out who these nice people are by way of collecting info like getting pictures, video, plate numbers, cell numbers, e mails and so forth and publishing the info on a series of secret web servers and promote their violations in a public way using the internet.

As an example at my shop i had hookers and crack heads hanging out in the lane way at all hours and i found that video taping live to the web worked wonders at reducing the number of illicit blow jobs and drug deals going down in the alley. Most important is, Tell them your doing it and give the URL out. They will check!!! In my case it took about a month and there has been no issues since.

In recent years, better mobile remote networking capabilities gives us an economical advantage when fighting these types of crimes. Installing hidden camera's and isolated power supplies and other counter measures in our trucks to capture faces and much other info and wirelessly sending it real time to a server that keeps track of the info has become an easy task.. Might not stop your car from being stolen but imagine the surprise when they get to the reserve and they find the hidden camera with the url to the server stamped on there and they go check on a computer.

A lot of car thieves can get very crafty using laptop scanning devices to detect entry codes and the presences of networks. There are ways you can do the same in reverse and as they query your network you can potentialy handshake or sniff out index.dat files or other registry info off their laptop identifing the computer and likely the person and all of thier friends and contacts and even locations. Up until recently a lot of this was used and still is in the CIA CSIS and other groups and can tranlate well into our lives by way of new technology that is available.

Still, someone has to set it all up and a team of reasonably intelligent folks with some inititive and the ability to work quietly have to be put together to make it happen. No shortage of those types of folks here!!!!

[/quote]



Oh my goodness, I like LOVE your style! I have been considering doing something like this for sometime. I would like nothing better than to slap these guy/girls faces all over the internet. Imagine how many people could see the person who stole your truck after it was sent through our CHC Amber Alert system... thousands within minutes would see the thief. Not to mention the fact they would live on forever on the internet. I have had trouble at my house three times, caught the kids all three times thanks to my CCTV system I have installed. Some cameras are in plain view, some are not. I love this sort of thing!!
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Re: Vehicle Security

Post by Gadgets »

[quote name='shotgun-cam' timestamp='1322078094' post='33003']

Having worked in security field most companies use the " hit the neighbours system ".That is make your property or system so hard to get the thief hits the neighbours first.

[/quote]



Exactly I was asked dozens of times by customers if I felt it was a good idea to have stickers on the windows indicating they have an alarm, or was it better to not announce it and "catch the bastards". My answer was always the same. First, you probably won't catch them, Second, by the time the alarm triggers they are more or less inside your home already. If you have stickers, and your neighbours don't.... guess where they will go unless they want something specifically from you house. So sad for the neighbours, but better them then me, is my view.
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Re: Vehicle Security

Post by Sub »

in my own (used car dealer) experience , I witnessed two thefts were security systems were bypassed very easily, lol :



-the vehicle (1995 ACURA NSX) was on the test drive with a salesman in the car and the driver, the salesman was pushed out from the vehicle on the speed 25-40kms (resulted some body injuries) but thief didnt care about the face being recognised - he needed an original key with keyfob to bypass the security ,lol



2nd case happend when my partner just purchased the 2010 Porsche Cayenee GT and thiefs broke in in the house at nite to grab the car keys in the lobby and dissapered afterwards....everyone heard the thiefs but they were scared to go downstairs not being shot or stabbed....



conclusion: you may have a 4inch thick steel door protecting you but there are needs to open this door and those needs are weak and unprotected in many cases...
Last edited by Sub on Mon Nov 28, 2011 1:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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