Protect your key FOB

[ColdNoMore]

I didn't realize that this is such a big problem, but I'm sure with all of the upscale vehicles here...we will eventually hear about it happening. :(

Putting your keys in coffee cans...when home? :22yikes:

Cybertheft protection: Wrap your car key fob in foil (https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2018/07/08/wrap-car-key-fob-foil/762338002/)

How to keep your car's key fob safe. DETROIT – Given that the best way to store your car keys at night is by putting them in a coffee can, what's an ex-FBI agent's advice to protect cars from theft during the day?

Wrap car fobs in aluminum foil. “Although it's not ideal, it is the most inexpensive way,” said Holly Hubert, a cybersecurity expert who retired in 2017 from the FBI in Buffalo, New York. “The cyber threat is so dynamic and ever changing, it’s hard for consumers to keep up.”

Copying code from key fobs isn’t difficult. And this is something the auto industry and insurance companies are monitoring closely.

[Bogie Shooter]

Before going paranoid over key code grabbers have a look at what Snopes has to say...……….

FACT CHECK: Code Grabbers and Remote Keyless Entry? (https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/code-grabbers-remote-keyless-entry/)

However, times change and technology advances. In response to the fixed code security weakness, automakers shifted from RKEs with fixed codes to systems employing rolling random codes. These codes change every time a given RKE system is used to lock or unlock car doors and thus rendered the earlier ‘code grabbers’ ineffective. That form of more robust code system became the industry standard for remote keyless entry systems in the mid-1990s, so automobiles newer than that are not vulnerable to being quickly and easily opened by criminals armed with the first generation of code grabbers.


Another thing not to worry about.:beer3:

[ColdNoMore]

Before going paranoid over key code grabbers have a look at what Snopes has to say...……….

FACT CHECK: Code Grabbers and Remote Keyless Entry? (https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/code-grabbers-remote-keyless-entry/)

However, times change and technology advances. In response to the fixed code security weakness, automakers shifted from RKEs with fixed codes to systems employing rolling random codes. These codes change every time a given RKE system is used to lock or unlock car doors and thus rendered the earlier ‘code grabbers’ ineffective. That form of more robust code system became the industry standard for remote keyless entry systems in the mid-1990s, so automobiles newer than that are not vulnerable to being quickly and easily opened by criminals armed with the first generation of code grabbers.


Another thing not to worry about
1. I don't get "paranoid" about anything.

2. You may also want to reread your Snopes link again.

For the most part, any efforts by car thieves to steal vehicles by exploiting RKE systems have likely been supplanted by a much easier method, that of using boosting devices to relay the RKE signals from far enough away that the car’s owner is unaware of it:



For further education and the rest of the story...

Keeping Your Car Safe From Electronic Thieves - The New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/style/keeping-your-car-safe-from-electronic-thieves.html)

Let me explain: In recent months, there has been a slew of mysterious car break-ins in my Los Feliz neighborhood in Los Angeles. What’s odd is that there have been no signs of forced entry. There are no pools of broken glass on the pavement and no scratches on the doors from jimmied locks.

But these break-ins seem to happen only to cars that use remote keyless systems, which replace traditional keys with wireless fobs.

Mr. Danev specializes in wireless devices, including key fobs, and has written several research papers on the security flaws of keyless car systems.

When I told him my story, he knew immediately what had happened. The teenagers, he said, likely got into the car using a relatively simple and inexpensive device called a “power amplifier.”

Mr. Danev said that when the teenage girl turned on her device, it amplified the distance that the car can search, which then allowed my car to talk to my key, which happened to be sitting about 50 feet away, on the kitchen counter. And just like that, open sesame.

...he said, the best way to protect my car is to “put your keys in the freezer, which acts as a Faraday Cage, and won’t allow a signal to get in or out.”

Which is why my car key is now sitting next to a tub of chocolate ice cream.


:ho:

[John_W]

We're not in Los Angeles, I don't understand why anyone in TV who has a garage would leave their car outside anyway because of car thieves, the heat and sun, dust, pollen, etc. I haven't parked my car outside at night in a least 20 years.

I would think if someone really cared about their vehicle, they would find a way to fit it in the garage. I met someone yesterday that has moved 3 times in the last seven years. From a CYV with too small a garage, to a designer home with a 2 car garage, to a designer home with a 2 car and golf cart garage.

[Bogie Shooter]

We're not in Los Angeles, I don't understand why anyone in TV who has a garage would leave their car outside anyway because of car thieves, the heat and sun, dust, pollen, etc. I haven't parked my car outside at night in a least 20 years.

I would think if someone really cared about their vehicle, they would find a way to fit it in the garage. I met someone yesterday that has moved 3 times in the last seven years. From a CYV with too small a garage, to a designer home with a 2 car garage, to a designer home with a 2 car and golf cart garage.
Oh but, that seems to make too much sense and stops the fear.....