The future of car technology

For a long time, the only security threat you worried about when it came to your car keys was them being stolen.  However, while our modern age of technology has brought about so much progress, there is some irony that it has also made easier for thieves to steal your car keys.  As it turns out, wireless key fobs are a seemingly easy to hack.

In fact, thieves can intercept the signal from the unprotected fob to a car through something known as a “relay attack”.  Using this method, they can gain entry to your vehicle, and even turn on the ignition without the key. Essentially, the attack works by “fooling” the car and key into thinking that they’re closer to each other than they really are.

Wired magazine also reported on a method whereby “one hacker holds a device a few feet from the victim’s key, while a thief holds the other near the target car”.

While these methods seem to pose huge security risks to your vehicle, there is actually quite a simple solution to protect your car: wrap your keys in tin foil. Wrapping your keys in this every-day household item will act as a barrier and ensure that the signal is not transmitted in a relay attack.

It’s important though to ensure that you don’t use any old foil to implement this anti-theft mechanism- it is recommended that you use a Faraday bag, which a small bag lined with metallic material that can also prevent signals from going in or out.

If you don’t want to experience the hassle of taking extreme precautionary measures, simply protect your vehicle by installing a Cartrack vehicle tracking unit. Cartrack has a variety of world-class stolen vehicle recovery packages designed to give you peace of mind.