Car Radio: Safety Lessons
Car radios have historically been both valuable items and easy prey for thieves - and yet they could easily be seen in a car. Why has the situation changed?
$ 40 million is so much, according to an alliance of American insurers, insurance companies paid for cases involving the theft of car stereos in 1969, according to an article in the 1970 New York Times. The problem of the theft of the tape recorder took insurers by surprise, the newspaper noted, and the insurers initially did not even know how to process these applications, which began to arrive in the 1960s. “Even regular models could be removed only by unscrewing a few bolts, and it took no more than three minutes,” said John Rend [John Wrend], manager of the insurance alliance damages bureau. “The thief had time to even snatch the speakers and crack the glove compartment in search of audio cassettes.”
Since the 1930s, tape recorders have a rich history, known for supporting innovation - after all, music, as the iPod proved a decade ago, is a good way to win an audience. But, like the white headphones in 2004, car receivers attracted attention. They showed easy prey in the car, which was easy to see whether the radio was catchy or simple and practical.
In the early years, the receivers were just radios. But improvements began to appear gradually - from the “search” button to 8-channel players and cassette decks , and with this the risk of theft also increased. In the 80s and 90s, things were really bad. In one of the 1983 articles in the New York Times, it was reported that in two months the New York police found stolen car stereos for $ 115,000.
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And today it is not difficult to find videos with the theft of tape recorders on YouTube. For example, in the video, the boy managed to open the car and steal the radio in just 10 seconds. These videos represent the theft of the recorder as a very easy task, and also wean you from storing valuable things in the car.
Car owners such things cause suffering, however, they can help view other videos - for example, this video tells the story of a man who caught up with a couple of thieves and passed them to the police. His radio, he returned. Of course, it would be much better if car owners did not have to chase after thieves.
In a sense, the problem with tape recorders lies in their location - they are conveniently placed to control them, while you are speeding, rushing along a long stretch of highway. But this arrangement makes them an easy target. Therefore, radio - an interesting topic from a security point of view. For their safety, many interesting ideas have been tested.
1. Theft of the recorder, which flourished in the 70s, led to the emergence of various tricks. For example, a removable player from Kustom Kreations (pictured above) works in different places — at home, on a boat or in a car — and it doesn’t need wires.
2. In 1989, Pioneer introduced the first removable panel, and this technology was remembered by many car owners. Other companies worked in the same direction, but at first only Pioneer was successful. "The Pioneer radio panel is removed completely, and the device remains in a form that can be confused with the complete absence of installed equipment," wrote in 1990 in the New York Times .
3. Anti-theft alarms were gaining popularity around the same time as the universal radio, so the appearance of the combined device was only a matter of time. In 1985, Sanyo introduced the Viper , which worked both as a radio tape recorder and as an alarm.
4. In later devices, especially regular ones, security codes were used, which allowed the radio to be used only by the owner of the car. The problem was that after several sales of used cars, these codes were lost.
5. If a removable panel is not enough, you can always adjust a fake panel. False panels, like the Incognito Car Stereo Disguise Kit , are made to look cheap, while an expensive radio tape recorder hides under them. One yutuber demonstrated a similar device of their own making.
Today, several metaphors are coming to mind related to security systems like a removable panel - a phenomenon recognized in the 90s. In a sense, it looks like two-factor authentication, or a key fob for car alarms. You can not listen to your favorite music without having panels. But this is not the only example inspired by tape recorders.
In the 2003 book, “ Having Fear: Reasonable Thinking about Security in a World of Uncertainty”, safety expert Bruce Schneier compares removable panels with devices that prevent clothing theft in a store, and spilling paint on it in case of theft. This form of security, he calls "the abolition of benefits." If you stole something, it becomes useless. But Schneier, as a specialist, sees the flaws of this approach.
“A lot of countermeasures such as paint-and-paint labels are based on the security of label-removal systems,” he writes in his book. - If thieves get access to the device to remove them, this countermeasure no longer works. There are other limitations: even if you take off the car radio panel, when leaving the car, it is easier for some thieves to break the glass immediately than to first make sure that there is a radio tape recorder inside. ”
Still, this strategy is quite effective, because today in smartphones there is one of its options - the ability to erase information from a stolen device remotely, and make it impossible to use it without a login and password. As a result, new smartphones are less often stolen , because they are useless without their master.
Removable panels - the best of known solutions to prevent theft, but it was only a transitional solution to this problem. This decision appeared in the automotive industry, which, as noted in the 2009 article, accidentally solved the theft problem by complexly integrating the audio system into a car. It is senseless for a thief to steal an audio tape recorder that works only in one type of car.
“Few thieves can offer installation of a navigation system, video and audio with a retractable screen, a Bluetooth interface running over fiber optic cables,” writes NPR's journalist Lora Sullivan . “And the right system should include OnStar and a wireless router.”
Since the writing of that article, the machines have become even more complex and advanced. As a result, today it is easier to remove the passenger seat from the car than the audio system. If we add to this the fact that smartphones today cope better with music playback, it becomes clear that the black market of stolen audio tape recorders is rapidly disappearing.
The solution, of course, is not perfect. Thieves may open up other ways to cause trouble. Maybe they decide to steal cars entirely. Maybe the digital brain with Ethernet support will open a new way for attacks on cars through computer hacking. But the transition to device integration teaches us an important lesson in security: sometimes the best method for ensuring security is the complete elimination of the problem itself. You can not steal the audio tape recorder if you do not know where it is installed.
$ 40 million is so much, according to an alliance of American insurers, insurance companies paid for cases involving the theft of car stereos in 1969, according to an article in the 1970 New York Times. The problem of the theft of the tape recorder took insurers by surprise, the newspaper noted, and the insurers initially did not even know how to process these applications, which began to arrive in the 1960s. “Even regular models could be removed only by unscrewing a few bolts, and it took no more than three minutes,” said John Rend [John Wrend], manager of the insurance alliance damages bureau. “The thief had time to even snatch the speakers and crack the glove compartment in search of audio cassettes.”
Since the 1930s, tape recorders have a rich history, known for supporting innovation - after all, music, as the iPod proved a decade ago, is a good way to win an audience. But, like the white headphones in 2004, car receivers attracted attention. They showed easy prey in the car, which was easy to see whether the radio was catchy or simple and practical.
In the early years, the receivers were just radios. But improvements began to appear gradually - from the “search” button to 8-channel players and cassette decks , and with this the risk of theft also increased. In the 80s and 90s, things were really bad. In one of the 1983 articles in the New York Times, it was reported that in two months the New York police found stolen car stereos for $ 115,000.
')
And today it is not difficult to find videos with the theft of tape recorders on YouTube. For example, in the video, the boy managed to open the car and steal the radio in just 10 seconds. These videos represent the theft of the recorder as a very easy task, and also wean you from storing valuable things in the car.
Car owners such things cause suffering, however, they can help view other videos - for example, this video tells the story of a man who caught up with a couple of thieves and passed them to the police. His radio, he returned. Of course, it would be much better if car owners did not have to chase after thieves.
In a sense, the problem with tape recorders lies in their location - they are conveniently placed to control them, while you are speeding, rushing along a long stretch of highway. But this arrangement makes them an easy target. Therefore, radio - an interesting topic from a security point of view. For their safety, many interesting ideas have been tested.
Five examples of car radio safety
1. Theft of the recorder, which flourished in the 70s, led to the emergence of various tricks. For example, a removable player from Kustom Kreations (pictured above) works in different places — at home, on a boat or in a car — and it doesn’t need wires.
2. In 1989, Pioneer introduced the first removable panel, and this technology was remembered by many car owners. Other companies worked in the same direction, but at first only Pioneer was successful. "The Pioneer radio panel is removed completely, and the device remains in a form that can be confused with the complete absence of installed equipment," wrote in 1990 in the New York Times .
3. Anti-theft alarms were gaining popularity around the same time as the universal radio, so the appearance of the combined device was only a matter of time. In 1985, Sanyo introduced the Viper , which worked both as a radio tape recorder and as an alarm.
4. In later devices, especially regular ones, security codes were used, which allowed the radio to be used only by the owner of the car. The problem was that after several sales of used cars, these codes were lost.
5. If a removable panel is not enough, you can always adjust a fake panel. False panels, like the Incognito Car Stereo Disguise Kit , are made to look cheap, while an expensive radio tape recorder hides under them. One yutuber demonstrated a similar device of their own making.
What lessons can be learned in modern security systems from removable panels for audio recorders?
Today, several metaphors are coming to mind related to security systems like a removable panel - a phenomenon recognized in the 90s. In a sense, it looks like two-factor authentication, or a key fob for car alarms. You can not listen to your favorite music without having panels. But this is not the only example inspired by tape recorders.
In the 2003 book, “ Having Fear: Reasonable Thinking about Security in a World of Uncertainty”, safety expert Bruce Schneier compares removable panels with devices that prevent clothing theft in a store, and spilling paint on it in case of theft. This form of security, he calls "the abolition of benefits." If you stole something, it becomes useless. But Schneier, as a specialist, sees the flaws of this approach.
“A lot of countermeasures such as paint-and-paint labels are based on the security of label-removal systems,” he writes in his book. - If thieves get access to the device to remove them, this countermeasure no longer works. There are other limitations: even if you take off the car radio panel, when leaving the car, it is easier for some thieves to break the glass immediately than to first make sure that there is a radio tape recorder inside. ”
Still, this strategy is quite effective, because today in smartphones there is one of its options - the ability to erase information from a stolen device remotely, and make it impossible to use it without a login and password. As a result, new smartphones are less often stolen , because they are useless without their master.
Removable panels - the best of known solutions to prevent theft, but it was only a transitional solution to this problem. This decision appeared in the automotive industry, which, as noted in the 2009 article, accidentally solved the theft problem by complexly integrating the audio system into a car. It is senseless for a thief to steal an audio tape recorder that works only in one type of car.
“Few thieves can offer installation of a navigation system, video and audio with a retractable screen, a Bluetooth interface running over fiber optic cables,” writes NPR's journalist Lora Sullivan . “And the right system should include OnStar and a wireless router.”
Since the writing of that article, the machines have become even more complex and advanced. As a result, today it is easier to remove the passenger seat from the car than the audio system. If we add to this the fact that smartphones today cope better with music playback, it becomes clear that the black market of stolen audio tape recorders is rapidly disappearing.
The solution, of course, is not perfect. Thieves may open up other ways to cause trouble. Maybe they decide to steal cars entirely. Maybe the digital brain with Ethernet support will open a new way for attacks on cars through computer hacking. But the transition to device integration teaches us an important lesson in security: sometimes the best method for ensuring security is the complete elimination of the problem itself. You can not steal the audio tape recorder if you do not know where it is installed.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/372955/
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