While modern electronic systems embedded in cars continue to become more sophisticated in order to improve driver safety and convenience, thieves are reportedly accessing vehicles with increasing ease.
Police in Long Beach, Calif. are still investigating an incident in February when two men, who were caught on surveillance camera, used unknown devices to gain keyless entry to vehicles. A similar incident in Chicago in 2012 was recorded by homeowner Michael Shin after his vehicle was broken into while parked near his home.
“We believe that code grabbing technology was utilized [to mimic the unlock signal that car transmitters send and trick the car’s computer into unlocking the doors] and we are looking into it and investigating,” Andrew Schoeff of the Chicago Police told WLS.
In 2011, researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) in Switzerland demonstrated that the security of passive keyless entry and start systems was vulnerable to relay attacks during an experiment on 10 car models from eight different manufacturers. Using a pair of antennas placed “in proximity” to the key and the vehicle to relay messages between the key and the car, the research team was able to unlock and start the car. The setup was successful up to 50 meters without a clear line-of-sight and at a few meters from the key—suggesting that a thief could possibly gain access to a vehicle just by being in temporary proximity to the vehicle’s owner.
The Telegraph in London also reported last year on another type of high-tech break-in technique known as lock jamming, in which criminals jam the ‘lock’ signal from a car owner’s remote key, preventing the car from locking. According to the Telegraph, more than 1,000 vehicles were stolen last year in London using this technique.
Police in Long Beach have enlisted help from national and international law enforcement agencies and vehicle manufacturers to identify the unknown devices.
