Keyless Entry and increasing danger of car theft!

[harrier]

This makes interesting and worrying reading; car theft whilst Keyless Entry keys remain secured indoors:-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... drive.html

[MikeFish]

This is not new, it has been going on for a while now. And exactly why I didn't tick keyless entry as an option when ordering my car.

[MikeFish]

One of the guys on here keeps his keys in a RF shielded box. Probably worth doing the same if you have keyless entry.

[stevo55]

Interesting use of what looks like a code/RF grabber. He's wanding against an outside wall so if say the keys were held in the next floor up (bedroom) it must be pushing out a fair amount of power to reach it. Good idea on an RF box. Another trick was using software that convinces the car that you are the 'third key' so it will then open and start.
Goes to show that you can have as Gucci and whizz bang an electronic system as money can buy, sooner or later someone smart enough will invent software to defeat it. Time and again the best solution is a combination of electronic and physical security. Thieves want to sneak in and out with your car/whatever with the minimum amount of fuss, noise and time on target. If they have to physically attack things to breach them and get in thats going to increase the chance of getting caught and so 'may' deter them.

[kmpowell]

This is the reason why I didn't spec keyless entry on my old RS4. On my new car it sadly came as standard and according to the dealer there's no way to disable it, so I use a Disklok and have my keys in a RF shield pouch.

The scary thing is you don't even need a laptop or any high-tech kit to do this. If you have an Android or a jailbroken iPhone, there are apps you can download which allow the phone to lock on and extend a 'Bluetooth/RF'signal, which is the signal your car is constantly transmitting to locate if the key is in the vicinity. Your phone then acts as a middle bit of kit to trick the car into thinking the key is next to it (normally needs to be 1-2 meters away max).

[MikeFish]

I did laugh at the police comment in that article that said it was Russian military equipment.

[IanH755]

That bloody Russian Military, coming over here and stealing our cars

[stevo55]

[RS4B8LYF]

I had my X5 stolen of the drive whilst all at home and the two guard dogs not on guard.....it was a true blessing, car was terrible! Why I went from Audi to BMW is anyone's guess. Taught me that Audi really are the best in their class, SQ5 to an RS4 poss RS6/7 next?

[wildbore]

... which is the signal your car is constantly transmitting to locate if the key is in the vicinity.

That's not true. You have to tell the car to send a ping to the remote by touching a door handle. The remote doesn't send a signal back unless the incoming call is from the car (or something that can fake the car's call). If the keyfob thinks the car has called and if the car thinks the keyfob responded then it will open.

I am not saying it's a perfect system, mind you... but then there are plenty of code catchers that work against standard keyfobs, too.

[kmpowell]

... which is the signal your car is constantly transmitting to locate if the key is in the vicinity.

That's not true. You have to tell the car to send a ping to the remote by touching a door handle. The remote doesn't send a signal back unless the incoming call is from the car (or something that can fake the car's call). If the keyfob thinks the car has called and if the car thinks the keyfob responded then it will open.

I am not saying it's a perfect system, mind you... but then there are plenty of code catchers that work against standard keyfobs, too.

Perhaps my use of the word 'constantly' was misused/ambiguous, but the premise/theory is completely true. A signal from the car is sent to the receiver key which needs to be 1-2mtrs away, as the receiver key is in the house the phone/laptop is used as a Bluetooth/RF range extender to grab that authentication code from the receiver key.

[Surrey Sam]

Who cares? History has shown that if they want your car, they'll break in/mug you regardless of what system you have.

[Eddie555]

As Sam has just said^^^. I did near damn everything and that did stop them taking mine from the house. But they got it in the end. If they want it they'll get it regardless of whatever ways you can think of to stop the scumbags. The harder you make it the more risk you take in causing yourself unnecessary harm/injury. Ask yourself a Question, is the car worth it? Nope not in my book!!!

[MartayMcFly]

They're going to have the leave the car running forever then, right? Once out of range of the key it'll ping that the key isn't in the car (no real issue yet) but once they're gone the key won't just magically range-extend to whatever corner of the country they're storing it in... or does the laptop store the code as if it's a new key? Are they going to try to sell the car on with a laptop (or whatever was in the bag) as the key?

As for how long this has been going on... did none of you watch Gone in 60 Seconds? An old remote fob can still be cloned the same way, so only difference is they'd have to waiting for you to lock/unlock the car. I'd rather they came in the night, didn't actually enter my property and then left without me being aware at all.

[stevo55]

As Sam has just said^^^. I did near damn everything and that did stop them taking mine from the house. But they got it in the end. If they want it they'll get it regardless of whatever ways you can think of to stop the scumbags. The harder you make it the more risk you take in causing yourself unnecessary harm/injury. Ask yourself a Question, is the car worth it? Nope not in my book!!!

I'm sorry to hear you got turned over but to be honest making yourself a softer target really isn't the smartest thing to do. Why be the low hanging fruit? If you're of the mind that people are going to come anyway so why bother then we may as all just not have nice things and live a humdrum life with no frills. You shouldn't be lying in bed at night fretting about 'what if' all the time.
Just for the record I was burgled ten years ago with 3 guys in my house nicking stuff (not the 2 beemers on the drive as they didn't have the capacity to move cars on) while I slept upstairs (in my defence I'd just left hospital after a serious disease and wasn't up to much apart from coming back to life). First I knew was when my ex went downstairs to discover what our house guests had been up to! Cost a lot of money to secure the house but it's about feeling safe in your own home? If I'd have thought 'fck it they'll just come back so may as well just leave it' then that's inviting further drama.