Car thief lesson #1: Watch out for DataDots

There's a new theft protection system on the block, and while it's not quite the car-thief ejector seat we were hoping for, it seems to be working. This new security is in the form of grain-of-sand-sized laser-etched dots that get spray glued to pretty much any part of a new car worth stealing. They glow under black light and show the Vehicle Identification Number when examined under a 30-power microscope. The company behind it, DataDot Technology, claims they are responsible for a 95% reduction in cars stolen by professional thieves in Australia (we're not sure we buy that, but whatever) by making the parts more easily identifiable and thus not worth selling. Of course this doesn't stop other thieves from stealing your car for doing donuts, but hey, nothing's perfect.