Awareness when Posting Pics of EDC gear

[Mr. Shawn]

While researching IT topics, I happened upon this interesting article, which specifically mentions forums on which people post their EDC gear.

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/securi ... ag=nl.e101

[Evil D]

Wow, so how are key copies made from an image? Never heard of anything like that. You can't walk down to the hardware store with a .jpg and get copies made :D

[2cha]

Wow, so how are key copies made from an image? Never heard of anything like that. You can't walk down to the hardware store with a .jpg and get copies made :D

One can easily, easily cut keys with a file, and you can probably walk into strip mall home store and buy a key blank.

Wow. I can't believe that this thought hadn't crossed my mind. Learn something new every day. Thanks for posting this.

[ChrisR]

I already suspected that it would be possible so any keys I have photographed have the shaped edge covered over

Never under-estimate what scumbags will do to steal your gear It's like when folks put up stuff to prevent burglaries ... but they don't realise that a burglar doesn't have any respect and they will smash their way through obstacles ... it has to be physically impossible to breach to stop someone.

[Mr. Shawn]

2cha, you're welcome. I'm thinking that those microchips in later model vehicle keys would stem some of this activity, but I bet there are ways around that technology too.

[Evil D]

That's true, there's a flea market here that sells blanks for just about anything you can imagine so i guess if you practiced you could hand cut keys but that sure does take a lot of effort. If someone is going to steel a car, i think they'd just slim jim the door open and go that route like they always have.

[.357 mag]

That's true, there's a flea market here that sells blanks for just about anything you can imagine so i guess if you practiced you could hand cut keys but that sure does take a lot of effort. If someone is going to steel a car, i think they'd just slim jim the door open and go that route like they always have.

Or just bust out the window.

[HellHound]

That's true, there's a flea market here that sells blanks for just about anything you can imagine so i guess if you practiced you could hand cut keys but that sure does take a lot of effort. If someone is going to steel a car, i think they'd just slim jim the door open and go that route like they always have.

Ya good look with that slim jim... Once left the car keys inside and went too hook up the battery when the alarm engaged closing the door. Long story short I spent the entire day slim jimming n nothing. Then finnaly the neighbour came and showd a trick how to bust in your own car (no window braking needed thank you very much) since the car was made in '89 and has a guard against slim jims think your only option would be:brake the window, rip out the alarm n the ignition and hope you'll get away fast engough with out some guy running out with a shotgun and making you the honarary target of the range Lol :D

[Neomik]

Nice article!!!
One thing for sure the scumbags of the world will always try to find ways in our houses!
And it is certainly not a good idea to post pics of your very personal items that could identify your personal information or your location, such as ID Cards, Credit cards, Car keys and house keys.
Even if you blur, or black out any numbers and specifics the possibility of someone with the wright software and the skills recovering that information is high.
So you should not do it in the first place!!!
If someone has the intention to rob you because you show off your Porsche Keys,/Rolex watch and tell the area where you live (to brag of course) and surely also mention what type of defenses you got (like the shotgun under your bed) he has enough information to make the effort to observe you and to plan to use this information to harm you.
That's why you should make sure that you do not leave those traces!

The chances are slim for this to happen... but they are present... so be aware and be prepared before the s..t hits the fan!!!

[Evil D]

Well...i'm not going to post a bunch of how-to on breaking into cars...but suffice to say that when i was younger and a new driver i locked my keys in my car several times and i've seen the police open doors with all sorts of things, not just slim jims and not just down the window dew wipe. A lot of them go through the door weather stripping anymore, which works great especially if you have power locks...just push the button and you're in.

[araneae]

I suppose this assumes that the person has access to a "key duplication software system," or enough skill to hand file a key to match your car/house from a photo, also has the skill to track down your physical address/car and gain entry. Not saying it isn't possible, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

[jackknifeh]

I got to my car (very old van) one morning and there was a policeman’s card under my windshield. He had seen a guy looking in cars in the parking lot and happened to come up on him while he was in my car. The guy had a key that would start my van. It wouldn’t open the door though.

I found this out when I called the officer. I told him I didn’t know the guy or many other people in that town. I was working out of an office in a different town from where I live and only had an efficiency apt. there to live out of during the week. I couldn’t imagine where he got a key that would start my van. I don’t remember what year it was but I’d say around 1990. Do dealers have keys that will start several vehicles of a certain model?

I don’t know if this incident has anything to do with this thread or not. This thread just reminded me of it since it had to do with someone having a key that he shouldn’t have.

Jack

[*Cho*]

...also has the skill to track down your physical address/car and gain entry. Not saying it isn't possible, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

If you own/use a digital camera / smart phone it can be very easy to track down your physical address using exif information (I think that is the name. it is ex something I believe at any rate) because it will give the viewer GPS coordinates . This happened to Adam on myth busters when he took a picture of his Jeep outside his house. A very nice fan tracked down where he lived.

Of course cameras and phones can have this featured turned off however not everyone is versed enough to know how to do that.

It also should be noted it isn't very hard to access this information. I am by no means a computer person but I was able to find a Mozilla add-on which allowed me to view this information. I wanted to see if any of my pictures online where broadcasting more information than I wanted. Thankfully FB and sites similar have made adjustments to make sure this information doesn't get out even with the Mozilla add-on. Twitter, on the other hand, hasn't made the change yet and there is a pretty interesting and creepy website that will stalk your pictures and notify you that you may be giving away more info than you intended.

[sarguy]

Yup, I've posted partial bits of information gleaned off exif data on some other forums, just to show how easy it is.