UK police claim thieves are sniffing for laptops with Bluetooth phones
by Evan Blass 
posted Apr 3rd 2006 at 7:30PM
No disrespect towards the fine police of the United Kingdom or their Sherlock Holmsian skills, but we're
mighty skeptical of a recent warning by the Cambridgeshire division that thieves are using their cellphones to locate
and steal Bluetooth-enabled laptops from the "boots" of cars. So far all of the evidence concerning this new
high-tech modus operandi seems to be anecdotal, as police in Royston are also claiming that a recent a spate of laptop
thefts can be attributed to Bluetooth-sniffing crooks, but neither department is reporting how they came to these
conclusions. Still, it's probably not a bad idea to shutdown your machine instead of putting it sleep when storing it
in the car, toggle your Bluetooth setting to "undiscoverable," or just bring the damn thing along if you're
going to be away from your ride for awhile.[Via The Raw Feed]
Filed under: Handsets
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Raghu @ Apr 3rd 2006 7:56PM
Which laptop leaves its bluetooth or any other radio on when it is asleep. If they do, what is the purpose of the sleep then? Every laptop that I have had turns off radios, LCD panel and spins down the disk. I have never used Linux on a laptop, so I can't comment on that.
Matt @ Apr 3rd 2006 8:08PM
Yeah, this sounds like FUD to me. I think a bigger risk is having a briefcase with a cell or BT-enabled PDA in the trunk (for example, when you stop off at the bar or gym on the way home). Those devices are actively transmitting and could tip off a thief that there's at least one expensive device in the trunk.
E71 @ Apr 3rd 2006 11:42PM
Smelly limeys