Yesterday’s entry about the backpack burglar on the University of Hawaii Manoa Campus was picked up by BulletproofCourier, a “citizen journalist” blog in Vancouver, B.C.

BulletproofCourier included this additional image which originally appeared on the UH Campus Security web site, and added an itemized list of the items found in the backpack

Then I heard from an engineer in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who said he read about the incident from “a web forum which I and some other engineers frequent.” He said they are trying to figure out what this burglar was up to.

Thus far, much of what we’ve been able to see looks like common parts of a burglary kit. The electronic device on the bottom looks like a common “Driveway Patrol” brand motion sensor with the speaker bypassed into an earphone which a burglar might use as an early warning device. The canister of electronics dusting gas combined with the variety of small screwdrivers may be used for the freezing and breaking of recessed locks (such as those found on filing cabinets and desk drawers.)

Based on our initial observations it would probably be in your best interests to check extensively for missing documents as well as perhaps electronic recording devices (which may be hidden inside of electrical or telephone fixtures or placed in-line with your telephone.)

In a follow-up email, he went further.

With some further thought, the items of the burglar wrestled from the perpetrator suggest very strongly that he intended to steal testing materials. For example, most desks and filing cabinets utilize low-security locks which have brass wafers instead of pins. With sufficient torque applied to the keyway, these wafers can be sheared allowing the lock to open without a key. The canister of duster gas with its nozzle removed suggests that he was using the gas to cool the wafers of these sorts of locks so that they could be easily broken by applying torque with a screwdriver.

Interesting speculation. It’s fascinating to see how the internet has created accessible spaces for these kinds of exchanges.