Re: Because Criminals will follow the rules?
>Shouldn't be that difficult to Tempest screen the engine computer in a typical car, seeing as how it is already surrounded by a lot of metal as it is.
I think it would. Car engines already produce a hell of a lot of electrical noise, so your cars computers are already heavily hardened against EMF radiation. That is why they are usually put in the passenger cabin, for extra shielding from the engine by the firewall. Your tempest screen would have to cover all the glass windows in the cabin, which would render them opaque.
Also, to be able to supply enough noise to defeat the EMF hardening while not causing problems to the car occupants is almost impossible. You really have to pump a shedload of EMF in order to induce the ECU to throw a wobbly. They are deliberately designed to resist EMF interference. And you would have to pump it into the cabin, where you can't really avoid microwaving the meatbags as well. Bad luck if anyone has a pacemaker for starters.
This idea was floated in the US years ago (I imagine after someone saw it in a Fast and Furious movie, where such a device was shown), and was proven to not work that well in reality.
For the effort to shield the ECU, you might as well convert the engine to run on carburettors/points and ditch the electronics anyway.
> That would be a lot less obvious that robbing a bank in 35 year old car.
Although it would add back some class I have to say. Like back when bank jobs were done with modified mk II Jags.
In reality though, I doubt many jobs would be using 4 wheeled vehicles at all. The last few jobs I read about were pretty much exclusive to 2 wheelers. Logically, as bikes are cheap, fast, can go between traffic, on pavements, down narrow passageways, etc.... and some can hold a not indecent amount of loot. 5 blokes on bikes can probably take a decent amount of jewels/shiny and make a getaway, bonus points if they all go in different directions.
Also, bikes are unlikely to ever have remote connected stuff like cars, and even if they do, they are unlikely to have kill switches. Having a bike suddenly lose power or cut out would be far more deadly than in a car, both to the unwitting driver and pedestrians.