{"id":37,"date":"2008-01-12T02:52:30","date_gmt":"2008-01-12T10:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cubist.cs.washington.edu\/Security\/2008\/01\/12\/the-club-as-a-vehicle-theft-deterrence\/"},"modified":"2008-01-12T02:53:02","modified_gmt":"2008-01-12T10:53:02","slug":"the-club-as-a-vehicle-theft-deterrence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/secblog.cs.washington.edu\/Security\/2008\/01\/12\/the-club-as-a-vehicle-theft-deterrence\/","title":{"rendered":"“The Club” as a vehicle theft deterrence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steering wheel locks, in particular The Club<\/strong>,<\/font>[1]<\/sup><\/a> are a standard method for securing automobiles against theft. They work by attaching to the steering wheel in such a way that the wheel cannot be turned sufficiently for driving, and then locking in place until unlocked with a key. They are simple to use, compatible with essentially any vehicle, and when in place are an effective theft deterrent.<\/font> The following is a review of the Club and similar fork-based steering wheel locks.Such devices have two main advantages: they can be added to almost any vehicle to help protect against theft, and they allow the owner to easily operate the vehicle normally. The ability to deter theft is a valuable asset, since cars are expensive items that are frequently stolen. Even if not 100% effective, the hassle of dealing with a steering wheel lock will often deter a potential thief. However, such a lock would be worse than worthless if it couldn\u2019t also be removed easier by the vehicle owner. Fortunately, they can be unlocked and removed in seconds with the correct key.<\/font><\/p>\n

One obvious adversary to the owner of a vehicle is a thief who wishes to steal the vehicle. The whole reason to own a device like the Club is to deter such thieves, since their goal is generally to drive the stolen vehicle away and they can\u2019t do that if the steering wheel is locked. Another potential adversary is anybody seeking to attack the driver for any reason (robbery, rape, kidnapping, etc.). Alternatively, the driver may need to leave in a hurry for a completely different reason, such as a medical emergency.<\/font><\/p>\n

The greatest vulnerability of the Club and locks of similar design is that a thief could cut away part of the rim of the steering wheel, allowing the lock to be removed without unlocking it. This damages the steering wheel and requires a saw blade plus enough time to cut through the wheel rim, but renders the Club useless. Another vulnerability is that a steering wheel lock takes some time to remove. In a situation where the driver wants to leave immediately (for example, if the driver is pursued on foot by muggers, yet manages to reach his or her vehicle) , the time needed to remove the lock could prove dangerous.<\/font><\/p>\n

To resolve the vulnerability of cutting the steering wheel rim, a metal shield can be put over the rim in such a way that, while the shield is in place, it protects the wheel rim and cannot be removed while the steering wheel lock is engaged. Cutting through the shield is much harder than cutting away the wheel rim would be. Unfortunately, it also adds complexity to the process of removing devices such as the Club, so the solution to the first vulnerability exacerbates the second. Ideally such locks shouldn\u2019t add significantly to the time it takes to get the vehicle going (from the owner\u2019s perspective).<\/font><\/p>\n

Vehicle theft, especially of certain classes of vehicle in certain areas, is a significant threat. Thus, devices such as the Club are very beneficial; even if they can\u2019t stop a thief, they make it sufficiently harder to steal the vehicle that a thief is likely to look for an easier target. Thus, the risk of vehicle theft with a device such as the Club is fairly low. Using a shield that protects the steering wheel rim makes it extremely secure, but unless the car is in an area where vehicle theft is extremely common, such shields probably aren\u2019t worth the added delay before driving. \u00a0Fortunately, the chance of being attacked as you get into your vehicle is rather small, and the incremental delay to remove a lock such as the Club is minimal enough that this is also a fairly small.<\/font><\/p>\n

Overall, a Club or similar lock is probably a good buy, especially for those who are prone to vehicle theft. However, a shield to protect the wheel rim is probably not worthwhile; it provides only a small increase in protection from one threat, and potentially exacerbates another threat (it also adds cost and annoyance when the vehicle must be used). Stick to just locking the wheel, unless theft is an extremely major problem.<\/font><\/p>\n

1<\/sup><\/a> http:\/\/www.winner-intl.com\/automotive\/default.htm<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steering wheel locks, in particular The Club,[1] are a standard method for securing automobiles against theft. They work by attaching to the steering wheel in such a way that the wheel cannot be turned sufficiently for driving, and then locking … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[34,31,32,33],"class_list":["post-37","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-physicalsecurity","tag-cars","tag-physical-security","tag-security-review","tag-theft"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/secblog.cs.washington.edu\/Security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/secblog.cs.washington.edu\/Security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/secblog.cs.washington.edu\/Security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/secblog.cs.washington.edu\/Security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/secblog.cs.washington.edu\/Security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/secblog.cs.washington.edu\/Security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/secblog.cs.washington.edu\/Security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/secblog.cs.washington.edu\/Security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/secblog.cs.washington.edu\/Security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}