p.1 #1 · Insurance Policies and Car Hack Door Unlocking
"KARR Security System, installed in more than 2 million vehicles across the US by their estimate, can let any hacker within Bluetooth range send radio commands to silently unlock the car at will, turn off its alarm, honk the car's horn or flash its lights, or even disable its ignition and leave a driver stranded." Many of these systems were installed on new vehicles at dealerships BEFORE the car was sold to unsuspecting buyers. The customer had the option to pay to enable it. But even when disabled, it is still hackable.
Why it matters for insurance? A lot of insurance policies require evidence of forced entry (e.g. broken window, damaged lock, etc.). With the hack, it would appear as an unlocked vehicle and likely result in a denied claim. An example is PPA's PhotoCare vs PhotoCare Plus. The latter covers unlocked vehicles and mysterious disappearances.
p.1 #3 · Insurance Policies and Car Hack Door Unlocking
It is good to think about the risks, of course, but they are what they are.
Most important, I think, are a few basic principles. They should be obvious, but are worth repeating:
1. Don’t leave anything visible inside your car when you are away. My theory is that even stuff you would not think might attract a thief may make them curious enough to take a few seconds to bust your window and look further.
2. Be very cautions about handling your gear and other attractive stuff when you park. If you know you are going to have to park a car with valuable stuff in it, place it out of sight BEFORE you drive to where you’ll park. You don’t want to be seen, for example, stashing bags of expensive camera gear before you lock the car.
3. If you car has hidden compartment in addition to the obvious trunk storage, use them. Car burglaries are usually quick operations, and there’s a chance that the person won’t look that carefully. Or not.
4. Better yet, avoid leaving that stuff in the car at all. It is awkward to cart a big bag of camera gear into the restaurant or meeting, but having in with you is safer than leaving it in your car.
5. Some things that don’t resolve the issue and make it less risky. For example, if you have an option, it might be worth paying extra to park in an enclosed garage, especially if employees are on site, than to park it on the street. Saving a few bucks on parking is going to feel less attractive after the theft of five figures worth of camera gear.
6. Go ahead and put something like airtags in all of your bags and even on some of the gear. It might be enough to help the police track it. No guarantees, but it isn’t that expensive and it might help.
I was surprised that the previous poster extol the 4Runner for its security. It certainly is a bit less technology intensive. (For example, very funky satnav system.) I have had one for a bit more than a decade now. It is a great vehicle for photographic adventures — equipped correctly and with the right tires it can go just about anywhere you’d want to drive. And you can sleep in it! But it is quite hard to make your gear fully hidden in the thing, at least in mine. There is a luggage area retractable cover, but it leaves a gap at the rear door large enough for someone to see that there is stuff back there. I love my 4Runner, but I’m always extra careful when toting a lot of camera gear into it.
(A sedan with an actual trunk, which not perfect, at least does the best job of keeping gear totally out of sight. I also suspect that some thieves who might try the trunk may be less likely to try to break into the “frunk” on some EV models.)
p.1 #4 · Insurance Policies and Car Hack Door Unlocking
With less tech, signs of forced entry would likely be present. This should meet the criteria needed for photography insurance coverage, such as PPA PhotoCare.
