War in Ukraine: agricultural equipment stolen by the Russians deactivated remotely!

“Looting is not winning” for the Russians… This is what we can conclude since, for the second time in the conflict, Russian soldiers were trapped after stealing equipment and goods from the Ukrainians. At the start of the conflict, Ukrainian troops were able to locate stolen Apple devices thanks to the Locate function. It was enougha pair of AirPods stolen for Ukrainian troops to spot Russian soldiers.

This time it’s agricultural equipment, such as tractors and combine harvesters. A total of thirty pieces. According to CNN, Russian troops stole nearly $5 million worth of farm equipment from a John Deere dealership in the occupied city of Melitopol, Ukraine. This material took the road to Russia, to be transported 1,000 km further in… Chechnya.

Hardware blocked remotely

Until then, classic in wartime. Except that once arrived on site, the equipment does not work! ” When the invaders drove the stolen harvesters into Chechnya, they realized they couldn’t even turn them on, because the harvesters were locked remotely”dealership staff members told CNN.

This is one of the specificities of the material John Deere. Via GPS, it can be neutralized remotely, precisely against theft. Unable to start the engine, and this is how tractors and seed drills end up in abandoned fields near Grozny. Of course, it is possible to “crack” the firmware of the craft to unlock it, and CNN reports that Russian troops are in contact with ” experts in Russia who try to circumvent the protection ».

“Ukrainian” software unlocks protection

First irony of the story, John Deere equipment was initially criticized for its protection and blocking system because it prevents farmers from repairing their equipment themselves and, at the same time, the machine never really belongs to the farmer. ” A recent tractor contains between five and ten computer boxes, and dozens of sensors who control the engine and measure all production tasks — sowing, spreadingspraying, harvesting… There is also the GPS, which helps us to trace the furrows”, explained an American farmer a few years ago in the newspaper The world.

As a result, farmers have taken to high-tech, and they are looking on forums for solutions to unlock their devices, and thus repair or improve them without going through the manufacturer’s after-sales service, which is much more expensive. And guess where the best pirates are? In Ukraine ! and this is the second irony of the story! ” They call it the “Ukrainian software”. Rumor has it that it was created in Ukraine to be sold clandestinely,” continues this farmer who then specifies that the developers would in fact be Lithuanian. ” I typed in the official name of the software on Google, and I came across a site that was selling it for $300. Payment and download took a few minutes. »

Since the Russians have blocked many Western sites, it is not certain that they can find the software…