Armored enclosure for PC Case?

[tmbrown97]

A good friend of mine, and neighbor, got cleaned out over christmas. These guys kicked down the front door, opened the garage, and backed a truck in... They were there for so long, they found every possible thing of any value... every electronic, every piece of jewelry, etc... If you get someone like that, they'll find the evidence and take it no matter where you hide it. That said, make it difficult or hide it in a wall or something, and/or send the pictures off-site.

Granted - an alarm should prevent a lot of that, but you never know. These people were watching his house, so they could've easily turned off the breaker in the morning and waited 'till the battery died on his alarm, then come in - they knew he had a tahoe house and would be gone for a few days.

 

[Neurorad]

A good friend of mine, and neighbor, got cleaned out over christmas. These guys kicked down the front door, opened the garage, and backed a truck in... They were there for so long, they found every possible thing of any value... every electronic, every piece of jewelry, etc... If you get someone like that, they'll find the evidence and take it no matter where you hide it. That said, make it difficult or hide it in a wall or something, and/or send the pictures off-site.

Granted - an alarm should prevent a lot of that, but you never know. These people were watching his house, so they could've easily turned off the breaker in the morning and waited 'till the battery died on his alarm, then come in - they knew he had a tahoe house and would be gone for a few days.

Oh, man, that's terrible. Though it's a good thing they didn't steal things of greatest value, like photos (all digital on the PC?), though the jewelry may have some sentimental value. But I guess some people are emotionally attached to their high-end receivers.

But seriously, are there longer-term power solutions for alarms?

Would exterior cameras have discouraged them?

Did they have an alarm system of any kind?

 

[crash123]

These people were watching his house, so they could've easily turned off the breaker in the morning and waited 'till the battery died on his alarm, then come in

Excellent point. I hadn't thought about that, but it would be incredibly easy. In many places the main electrical panel is outside by code, and locks are prohibited, also by code. Opening the panel and flipping the main breaker off would take 5 seconds.

So I guess I'll add an alarm condition for power outages, and try to figure a way to tell if it is a legitimate power outage before allowing sirens. Thanks for the thought.

Back to the topic at hand, I have a desk with drawers on either side. On one side, I have my PC in the lockable drawer. When using the PC I extend the drawer for ventilation. Otherwise it's locked in the drawer. It's no safe, but it's extra time a burglar might not be willing to take. Best of all, it cost me nothing (well, except for the storage the desk drawer once provided).

 

[sic0048]

I wonder if a locked desk draw is a bigger draw to a burglar? If it's locked, then there must be something good inside

That's why this whole idea of trying to prevent a thief from taking a computer is so hard. If you lock it up or try to anchor it down, will that just entice the thief even more to steal it? I almost think it has to be disguised as some regular household item with little value. But then if they find it anyways, then there is nothing to prevent them from stealing it. Perhaps it would be easier to hide a USB drive (or networked drive) or something like that rather than the whole computer. I suspect most theives will grap the main unit and not worry about what all the plugs go to. Perhaps you could extend the USB to another location and hide the HD in something.

If you have ever watched "To Catch a Thief" on Discovery, it is amazing how quickly a thief can go through your stuff and find the valuables. Even the stuff you think you have hidden.

About the only way I can think to make sure a thief doesn't get a HD is to place it in a safe and make sure the safe is secured to the floor so the thief cannot carry it off. Of course you would have to find a way to drill into the safe enough to run wires to the HD. But many safes have a drill spot like that in order to run security wire.

 

[WayneW]

So I guess I'll add an alarm condition for power outages, and try to figure a way to tell if it is a legitimate power outage before allowing sirens. Thanks for the thought.

IMHO, a power failure isn't an immediate alarm condition, it is a trouble condition. When power is out for more than a few minutes, I want to be notified via my cell or email. If power is out long enough that the alarm panel is in danger of shutting down due to low battery, the central station should be notified of the trouble condition, notifying the non-police authorities on your call list.

I don't know how central stations generally handle this as I am only on self monitoring (non police dispatched) so far. One would hope that when a central station gets a low of power trouble notifications from one geographic region they would be able to determine it is a legitimate power failure (possibly weather or utility related). If yours is the only power trouble, hopefully they will be more responsive, but I don't know what they can do other than call friends/family/neighbors or a private security force.

A house that is routinely vacant should have a huge battery bank and central station monitoring to minimize risk.

 

[Neurorad]

I found a fire and water resistant safe that has USB connectivity, that can be bolted to the floor. However, I'm sure a burglar with a chainsaw could remove it, unless it's fixed to a concrete floor.

http://www.sentrysafe.com/products/productDetail.aspx?s=277

I guess a burglar with a jackhammer could remove it from a concrete slab.

I think the best (and least expensive) way to protect the DVR (and image data) would be to hide it, although a clever thief can follow cables. I'll just need to install a lot more cables, to throw him off. Maybe a fake litter box? A DVR hidden in a (fake) diaper pail?

 

[sic0048]

Maybe a fake litter box? A DVR hidden in a (fake) diaper pail?

I like it...... and it would probably work too!

Nice find on the safe too. Honestly that is probably the best solution. Sure if I thief had hours (like the above break in) they might be able to get it, but I suspect most are not going to take the time to try to get it.

 

[icellama21]

Someone I know got robbed last year. They found his DVR, it was in an armored case with a padlock. The burglar used his sledgehammer to bash the case. The case was never broken open, but the metal was so deformed it destroyed the DVR.

My advice is to armor/hide your telephone and internet lines and have your DVR constantly FTP photos. Hosting packages that come with tens of GB of storage are really cheap these days.

 

[sic0048]

You could probably have a local welder make a steel box to put around the computer and anchor it down to the floor. You could cut out vent holes and wire holes in the appropriate locations. It won't look pretty, but would probably be cheaper and more resistant to sledge hammer blows than most "armored" cases.

 

[Monk]

I found a fire and water resistant safe that has USB connectivity, that can be bolted to the floor. However, I'm sure a burglar with a chainsaw could remove it, unless it's fixed to a concrete floor.

http://www.sentrysafe.com/products/productDetail.aspx?s=277

I guess a burglar with a jackhammer could remove it from a concrete slab.

YEah! Or maybe he would have to resort to stealing it like they do with the ATM's!

"Bank surveillance video showed the suspect wrapping a steel chain around the ATM and then using a front-end loader to tear it free...."
http://www.winknews.com/news/local/36982174.html

 

[tmbrown97]

not sure if they got his computer - but they got all the family heirloom jewelry... and that whole thing about "they could've shut of his power" was theoretical - assuming he'd had an alarm. He didn't at the time - since ordered one. I tried to convince him about an Elk but he had already ordered a wireless GE system.

I think if I were goin' for true security I'd get the cams, then I'd find a network attached hard-drive to connect in an impossible-to-find location (odd place in garage, floor-safe under carpet, something like that). Better yet, via wireless to your neighbor's house!

As far irreplaceable pictures, I use Windows Live Sync (previously FolderShare) to keep 'em all in sync with the office so I always have 2 copies in 2 places.

Also I agree the e-mail alerts on power loss are necessary - I wonder if you could aim a light sensor at a street light - if the house doesn't have power and the street light is on, there's a problem? I'm sure something could be done. I wonder if you could get a 12-hour battery setup with solar charging and a cell-phone system for the alert? Make it really independent?

Other thing - I wonder how often they look behind pictures for wall-safes - or check for false-walls in a cabinet? one could hide the network hard-drive in a cabinet behind a false wall too.

The other shitty thing for them was that they usually keep the most valuable stuff in a safe in the attic under the insulation totally out of sight, but they had that down from a christmas dinner to get some of the jewelry out...