Abstract: Methods and systems may provide theft protection in one or more work machines. Methods and systems may control one or more operational systems and may provide and manage varying levels of access to work machines. Methods and systems may react to override attempts in order to provide robust theft protection. One or more control modules embedded in a work machine may be leveraged to perform theft protection services. Methods and systems may activate a first control module to restrict access to a first operational system in a work machine and activate a second control module to restrict access to a second operational system in the work machine. The first control module may detect a substitution of a new control module for the second control module and automatically configure the new control module to restrict access to the second operational system in the work machine.