Contributor I

Attempted Burglary

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
September 1, 2019
19 replies
1557 views

There was an attempted burglary on my house last week, and I'm confident they knew I had Sonos equipment and cased my house specifically to steal it. I have a ring doorbell video of a guy come up to my front porch with a crowbar at 1:40PM in broad daylight, with two guys in the background -- one small enough to fit through my small windows and another to stay on the lookout.

The windows were locked and apparently the burglars were not able to pry them open and not willing to break them in broad daylight. I posted the video on Ring and did contact the police. I am in the process of beefing up security at my house.

My Sonos speakers are the only high value items in the house that a thief could easily use/sell after stealing. Sonos items could fit through a small window after simply unplugging them from the wall. I purchased them within the last year. I used the Enjoy service and I am suspicious someone who had access to their records tipped off the burglar.

Sonos -- you need to fix this problem, and you need to do it yesterday. No one would break in to steal my Macbook or iphone because they wouldn't be able to use them without the password and two factor authentication. You need to add a software update that requires two factor authentication if someone tries to setup the equipment on a different Wifi network. A simple software update like this would take your equipment from causing danger to those who own it from thieves trying to break into their houses, to keeping it enjoyable without anyone wanting to steal it in the first place.

Also -- I think you need to look at the Enjoy service in Denver, and consider shutting it down. I don't know how else the burglars would have been tipped off to my house specifically. They were casing my house and did this while I was on vacation so they obviously had a tip off somehow.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

buzz

Grand Maestro

In my area thieves follow the delivery trucks and remove packages left on the doorstep.

A favorite technique is to "shop" the trash bins. In a former living area the trash truck drivers had an alternate "enterprise." They would examine the trash and determine which homes had a dog. They never burglarized a home with a dog.

D

Denver2019Author

Contributor I

I have a dog, but this occurred the day after we left with the dog for vacation.

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

Sonos will assist you if you provide them a police report that lists the stolen serial numbers. Just what they will do I don't know. If you are sure they are after your Sonos put sign near them telling thieves they will be remotely disabled if stolen.

If you are in a high risk area having the front panels engraved with your name isn't a bad idea, really reduces the resale value to thieves.

Folks where the kids live are using the Amazon delivery boxes rather than their front porches for expensive deliveries, if not from Amazon they have them held at a local UPS store.

D

Denver2019Author

Contributor I

I don’t want anyone breaking into my house in the first place to see a sign telling them the Sonos would be disabled.

Sonos should simply require two factor authentication anytime the network a device is on changes or at least an option to enable that. Then burglars wouldn’t want to break in and steal the hardware in the first place.

Stuart_W

World-Class Superstar

SO there are a few things here.

" I used the Enjoy service and I am suspicious someone who had access to their records tipped off the burglar. ". So you're apparently alleging that a Sonos employee or contractor has sold or given records of systems to thieves. This is quite an allegation given that Sonos is a well known brand, is already in many households and can be seen and heard. Surely it is much more likely that those involved, especially as they failed, are people who either were chancers or had heard of your system through local knowledge? I would have thought some kind of international gang that you allege would be much better at the actual burglarising.

I also find the idea that it is Sonos' responsibility to ensure that there is no incentive to steal the units somewhat bizarre and incompatible with their, obvious, commercial goal of making their products eighty sought after by users. And as has been mentioned you can inform Sonos if units have been stolen and then they can work with law enforcement.

Ultimately we are responsible for our own security and the tried and tested methods for keeping us as safe as possible from burglars clearly applies.

Arc + Sub (Gen 1) + 2 x Play 1/ Stereo Play 3s/ Era 100 Stereo in Kitchen, One Stereo in Bedroom, Play 1 stereo pair in Study, Play 1in Bathroom, Sonos Move 2

buzz

Grand Maestro

I think that you are giving the thieves too much credit if you expect that they will research every potential site and somehow "know" what can be traced and what cannot be traced. Virtually anything of value has a serial number. Historically, this has not been much of a deterrent.

controlav

Lead Maestro

Enjoy is not a Sonos company, its an independent company that offers the same service for a number of companies. If you think they are somehow responsible, report them to the Police.

Author of the leading independent Sonos apps for Android, MacOS, iOS, Windows and Xbox.

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

Serial numbers do help reduce theft for sale to pawn shops in areas that require every serial number to be recorded along with seller ID and forwarded to the local police.

That still leaves ebay and Craig's list as well as private sales so it doesn't help all that much unless the crook needs near-instant cash.

D

Denver2019Author

Contributor I

What I would like from Sonos is a software update, where when someone wants to change the wifi network the speakers are connected to, that triggers the need for two-factor authentication.

Right now Sonos speakers are an ideal item for burglars. They are small and high value, and all you have to do is unplug them and walk out with them/go through a window. No tools required.

However, I think if two-factor authentication were standard, there would be hardly any market for them as they would be pretty useless if stolen. In fact, after I post this I'm going to see if there is a different section where I can just post a feature request.

I did file a police report and told them everything I know. I do not know for sure how the attempted burglars targeted my house, but I can say it was soon after I bought several Sonos items and other than those I basically have nothing of value for a burglar in my house. So I'm pretty sure that is what they were after and no other houses on the block have had similar incidents.

melvimbe

One problem with your two factor authentication idea is that the units can be factory reset, easily bypassing your authentication requirements. Sonos would need to revamp a lot more than you think in order to effectively brick your Sonosin case of theft.

Danny

Show more replies

Sign up

Login to the community