A national watchdog group identified a device that lets thieves steal cars who use key fobs. The device, that enables you to open car doors, start vehicles and drive them away, suggests the auto industry is entering a perilous frontier wherein tech-savvy criminals can bypass the key-less theft-prevention countermeasures that come with certain recent models.
Thieves are able to exploit key fobs to steal your car
The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) said it purchased the device “via a third-party security expert from an overseas company” that developed it “to provide manufacturers and other anti-theft organizations the ability to test the vulnerability of various vehicles’ systems.”
The so-called Relay Attack device demonstrates how thieves recently stole vehicles that had been supposed to be almost impossible to swipe.
The boxy device, around the size of a smartphone, is used to capture a signal from a nearby key fob before using the signal to gain entry illegally.
The NICB said it tested the device on used vehicles at participating dealerships, an auto auction, employee vehicles and other cars.
In 19 of its 35 tests, the product opened the automobile. In 18 of those 19 entries, it was able to start the vehicle and drive away.
In other words, more than 50 percent of the time, the product allowed the would-be perpetrator to steal the vehicle.
“We’ve now seen for ourselves that these devices work,” NICB CEO Joe Wehrle said in a statement. “Maybe they don’t work on all makes and models but certainly on enough that car thieves can target and steal them with relative ease. And the scary part is that there’s no warning or explanation for the owner.”
The NICB said thieves use several types of wireless theft devices.
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