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Breaking into a house

Cuda1447

Cuda1447

Lifer
So, its kinda easy I think.

Story time: So today we had a brief power outage. When the power came back on the alarm system we had in our house was going off. Now we've never used this system. It was just here when we got here. It's never been armed and I've never heard a peep from it. But today it was just going crazy. After a few minutes of dinkering with it I cut the power to the box and it went off.


I spent the next hour trying to figure out how to disable it on the keypad. I don't know the master code (which apparently I needed) and wasn't going to call some security system company to come out and charge me money to reprogram something I never intend on using. After awhile I get fed up with it and decide I'm disabling it one way or another.


So I go to the main security box in the bedroom, unscrew two screws and open this thing up. Pretty simple layout. There is a battery with two wires hooked to it. Step one, pull those wires out. I went back and tested the system, it still worked. So I realized that there was A/C power going to this box in the bedroom. I find the spot where it is connected, but can't unscrew the screws that are holding the wires in place. Pissed off I say fuck it and just cut the wires. Problem solved.



So basically, if someone wanted to rob my house and my security system was on this is how it would go down. They break in one of the doors. The keypad starts chirping. They have one minute to turn it off. Instead, they go to this master box. Unscrew two screws, open the door. Unplug two wires from the battery and clip two more. This could all EASILY be done in 60 seconds.


Are most security systems this easy to get past, or do I just have a particularly shitty one?


Seems like any half decent robber wouldn't even be concerned about mine
 
Seems like any half decent robber wouldn't even be concerned about mine
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This is the focal point of your security. Any half decent robber got there by studying and/or not getting caught for enough time to gain experience. Such a person is as rare as hen's teeth. Most home burglars are profoundly stupid (it's why they do that to make money).
 
I think the trick here is finding the battery backup. In my previous install the battery backup was installed in a closet in a spare bedroom. You would have to find both the main power and the battery backup to defeat. Not saying impossible or even hard... Just something to be aware of...
 
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Security systems are smarter than that (well, most). If someone opens the door, and then all system power is cut, that sets off a red flag at the other end and they call police anyway (assuming you have an active subscription) because it is pretty obvious what just happened.

Now if it is just a standalone noise maker, yeah, that isn't worth much.
 
Well, rare is the robber who can identify what kind of security system you have, and successfully disable it, so you have that going for you, unless you're a high value target, or have some exceptionally valuable items that is.
 
Mine is wireless which I suppose is both good and bad at the same time. Good because there are no wires to cut such as the phone line, bad because a GSM jammer would disable it. The sensors are also wireless, not sure what wireless protocol they use, but I suppose in theory one could spoof the state of all the sensors so it does not trigger. Though, there is also tamper detection, so you'd really have to know what you're doing to not trigger that.

Only flaw though is the brain is also the main keypad, which is accessible. If I was to do it over again, the brain would be in the server room and the keypad would be auxiliary to that. It is possible to buy auxiliary keypads for this system, so I can always move it in the future.

Though, if I had learned about arduino before buying this system, I would have just made my own. 60 bucks per month is kinda expensive, but I guess it does give me piece of mind when I'm on 12 hour shifts. I don't worry about the house anymore since I have this. It also does fire and flood detection.

Also if I was smarter I would not have used the stickers that came with it, but instead use stickers from another alarm company. Robbers will go in knowing what kind of security system is installed, and most likely determine that by the stickers. "It's the ADT sticker version they used during NN year, they probably have XX model of system, we can hack those, let's go".
 
16" ICF block, spancrete roof, polar bear grade laminated polycarbonate windows, and full supported steel frame ram proof doors. With a external security door over the external entry area too as a double warning system so if someone attempts to no knock enter the first door with a entry team and fails you'll be alerted and be able to greet them first and remove their element of surprise much to their savory butthurt.

Because FU.
 
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Our security system has a tamper switch in the box and goes off immediately when someone trips any of the sensors in the place. No 60 second delay means we couldn't use a sensor on the door and we had to put the keypad in a place where it was accessible without tripping the alarm, but they can't turn it off without the code and there's no way they're getting to the box without setting the system off.
 
Cuda1447 said:
So basically, if someone wanted to rob my house and my security system was on this is how it would go down. They break in one of the doors. The keypad starts chirping. They have one minute to turn it off. Instead, they go to this master box. Unscrew two screws, open the door. Unplug two wires from the battery and clip two more. This could all EASILY be done in 60 seconds.
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They'd have to know where the master box is. If they know that, you've got more problems than just a burglar.
 
Most are made that they will send a msg off once tampered with(ie. a certain cable cut, etc). at least in my experience.

A free security system: arm your house like you normally do, just don't have the phone line connected to it(ie. don't pay monthly fees). you still get the same benefit an alarm system offers but it doesn't call out to the police/alarm company. The thief doesn't know that. He hears the loud sirens and knows it's go time(most cases).
 
slightlyhuman said:
Most are made that they will send a msg off once tampered with(ie. a certain cable cut, etc). at least in my experience.

A free security system: arm your house like you normally do, just don't have the phone line connected to it(ie. don't pay monthly fees). you still get the same benefit an alarm system offers but it doesn't call out to the police/alarm company. The thief doesn't know that. He hears the loud sirens and knows it's go time(most cases).
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It's pretty easy to set up your own security system. Just buy the box, a bunch of sensors, a siren, a dialer, and possibly a few relays and mount it all throughout your house. Most decent consumer security systems support wireless sensors and can be armed and disarmed with a key fob of you want. Mine even supports a cellular dialer. I have it set to call the police station first and then my cell phone. No security company is involved, so there's no monthly fees except for possibly cellular service if you choose to use it.
 
SlitheryDee said:
It's pretty easy to set up your own security system. Just buy the box, a bunch of sensors, a siren, a dialer, and possibly a few relays and mount it all throughout your house. Most decent consumer security systems support wireless sensors and can be armed and disarmed with a key fob of you want. Mine even supports a cellular dialer. I have it set to call the police station first and then my cell phone. No security company is involved, so there's no monthly fees except for possibly cellular service if you choose to use it.
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Any particular product recommendations?
 
If I were to burgle a house I would simply go to an 'old money' neighborhood with above ground telephone a cut the telephone going into the house.

Easy-peasy
 
sunzt said:
Any particular product recommendations?
Click to expand...

I haven't tried a lot of them, but this is the one I have. It's actually about $100 cheaper than when I bought it too.

http://www.homesecuritystore.com/p-...rlogix-security-nx-8e-wireless-ready-kit.aspx

It comes with a lot of what you'll need, but if you want to use a dialer you'll need a relay to trigger it. You'll probably want a couple more infrared or photoelectric sensors and possibly some door and window breach sensors. If you choose to use hardwired sensors you'll need a lot of wire to run throughout your house as well. Don't try to get away with the lighter gauge. We had trouble with false alarms for a while that we eventually determined was caused by the 22 gauge wire we were using. What actually seems to work best is the heavy telephone wire of the type that is normally run inside walls to the phone jacks. Not sure what gauge that is honestly.

I don't have any experience with wireless sensors, but you could probably avoid 90% of the trouble I went through setting my system up if you just went with those, assuming they're reliable. If you want it to make a lot of noise in the event of a break-in you can get larger sirens than the one that comes with that kit as well.
 
I have a wireless system and I have not had to change any batteries so far in the sensors. I occasionally test them as well. Have not done it in a while so I'm probably due to do it soon. I try to do it several times a year.
 
The GSM ones wont, but wired will. Also I would imagine it probably ties up your phone line every now and then for polling.
 
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