Accidentally lost "loving driver", a cybersecurity expert was lucky to find it again thanks to AirTag

 Have you attached an AirTag to your beloved items?

Thanks to Apple's AirTag, Dan Guido, a cybersecurity expert in Brooklyn, New York, was able to recover the stolen scooter.

An AirTag is a small tracking device that users can attach to the most easily misplaced things, such as keys or wallets. The AirTags also have a small speaker on them, which users can activate with their Apple device and locate the item they're attached to.

Powered by a small replaceable CR2032 battery, the AirTag does not support satellite-based navigation, instead relying on other random Apple devices to detect and communicate with the Bluetooth signals they receive. generate. When a user purchases an AirTag, it is linked to their Apple ID and they can report losing it. Through the "Find My" network, powered by a community signal resource, Apple is able to detect and report lost items, and also have an exact location.

Going back to the story, Guido has placed two AirTags on his scooter, one near the wheel, where it is quite clearly visible, and one under the body, camouflaged with black duct tape. Each AirTag costs $29, in total Guido spent nearly $60 on this.

Guido rides not an ordinary scooter but an award-winning, Ninebot-KickScooter. This electric scooter has a 551Wh battery that provides a range of 64 km. With a top speed of 29 km/h and 10-inch pneumatic tires, this car is also IPX5 water resistant and costs up to nearly 1000 USD. So, using two AirTags to increase its safety also seems quite reasonable.

Guido also used a $100 lock to make sure the car wasn't lost, but the night of the incident, he forgot to lock the car. With boarding time approaching, Guido tried to find the car on his own after police officials in the local area refused to help because they didn't know what an AirTag was and assumed Guido was tricking them.

However, Guido was unable to locate his car correctly and left to catch a flight to the Blackhat conference. He gave up searching for the car, knowing the AirTag would start beeping every 8 to 24 hours if its owner wasn't present. This feature is intended to prevent tracking but in this case the thief will know the presence of AirTags and take them out.

Fortunately for Guido, somehow, the AirTag was still there for a week when he returned, he decided to continue to convince the police to go with him on the quest to get the car back. He also demonstrated the operation of the AirTag tags to the police, who later agreed to send a patrol with him.

Upon arrival at the location, Guido and the police identified an e-bike shop there, and when Guido entered the store, he received a notification on his phone saying the scooter was only 4 meters away.

Guido was able to convince police and store employees of his ownership, using the vehicle's app, but also faced opposition when he pointed to a possible source of evidence to find. Find the culprit, using data from the store's security cameras. While Guido received threats from an agitated employee, the police recovered the necessary footage and began to track down the thief.