To many of us, locking our cars is almost an instinct. We close our car doors, push a convenient button on our car keys, and go on with our lives. If it’s this easy to lock our cars, than maybe it’s also gotten easier to break into them. PCNN reporters talked with Charlotte, NC-based automotive security expert Steve Holton to better understand how to protect our cars from this generation’s high-tech car thieves. Consider the following three tips to make sure you aren’t a victim of crime.

1. Is The Universal Car Key A Myth?

If you saw on the news that car thieves were using universal remote buttons to break into cars, you weren’t seeing something from the future. These real thieves can use them to unlock any car with a keyless entry, but at least you don’t have to worry about your car being driven away just yet.

“So far, these devices have not been used to steal cars, but they can unlock most cars that have electronic unlocking mechanisms” Holton says. “Any car that has a remote unlock feature on the key-you press the button and it locks or unlocks your car without having to put the key in the lock-is vulnerable.”

At this point, the technology that thieves are using is so new that experts aren’t sure how it works exactly, but it is said to be about the size of a cell phone, with thieves using it to unlock cars and steal everything from them. “In addition, the thieves could certainly access your car and hide in it, compromising your personal security,” Holton says, “At this point, since law enforcement officers are still trying to figure out how this new technology works, you’re advised to not leave anything of value in your car, and to check the car before you get into it to ensure that no one has accessed it.”

2. Protect Your Garage Door Opener

Your garage door may give you a lot of convenience to enter your house, but you should be sure you don’t give thieves that same convenient way to get in.

“Thieves can access an electronic device that can open a number of garage doors or cars at the same time,”Holton says. However, because these devices have been around longer than the remote car entry devices, law enforcement professionals have had more time to come up with tips for safeguarding you from this issue. “To thwart thieves who want to access your house using your garage door opener, the most important thing you can do is to ensure that if someone used a universal garage door opener, they couldn’t get into the full house and harm you.” Holton said. He went on to explain, “Some homes have a power switch that only controls the garage door – if you have this, then turn it off at night so the power is off to your garage door. If not, then lock the door from your garage to your house. That way, if someone gets into your garage, they can only steal what’s in the garage and can’t get into the main house (which would harm your personal safety).”

Panther Creek students should be especially careful to protect their garage door openers. “If you leave your car unlocked in a high school parking lot or elsewhere, anyone can open your car, take your garage door opener, see your address from your registration, and then come to your house any time to break in using your opener,” Holton says, “Because of this, make sure your car is always locked, and put your garage door opener in a center console, not visible on the visor.”

3. Beware Tracking Devices

You may have seen movies where criminals track the location of the person they want to harm by placing a tracking device on their car. Although these do exist in real life, they typically cost over $150, so someone would probably not randomly put one on your car unless they knew you and thought perhaps you had a lot of expensive things in your home and wanted to know when you weren’t home, or they were stalking you.

“If you do suspect someone put a tracker on your car, you can search under your car and under the hood to look for a small black box (about the size of a flip phone) which could also have a blinking red light on it,” Holton explained, “If you find one, take it to an electronics store to trace the signal back to the owner so you’d know who was tracking you.”