News

You should probably start wrapping your car keys in foil

Picture:
Picture:
Flickr / Marco Verch

We live in an age of pretty worrying technological advancements, none more so than robot overlords being created and especially when it comes to crime.

Unfortunately as new technology is made, so too are more ways for thievery.

Wireless key fobs are seemingly especially easy to hack it turns out. With an unprotected fob, thieves can apparently use the signal from the fob to a car with a special receiver, known as a 'relay attack'.

Using this they can win themselves entry into your car and even go as far as turning on the ignition with it.

However, it seems to combat this there's a very simple method: wrapping your keys in foil acts as a barrier and prevents the signals from being transmitted in a relay attack.

Holly Huber, a cybersecurity expert told the Detroit Free Press:

Although it's not ideal, it is the most inexpensive way. The cyber threat is so dynamic and ever changing, it’s hard for consumers to keep up.

It appears the attack can somehow fool the car and key into thinking they're closer to each other than they are.

It was reported by Wired, that "One hacker holds a device a few feet from the victim's key, while a thief hold the other near the target car'.

While it seems that any old foil will suffice for this fix, Hubert has suggested using a Faraday bag - a small bag lined with metallic material - which can also prevent signals from going in or out.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau said in an interview with ABC News that there had been no confirmed cases of a relay attack in the US.

In the UK however, a Bristol resident claimed someone had broken into his car with a fake wireless fob.

In a report by the Bristol Post, the man said that when he went into the car, he found the glove box had been opened:

"My thinking is someone is going round hacking wireless keys,” he said. “That’s why I’ve wrapped it in foil, to stop the device finding your keys”.

Read more: The FBI is still struggling to employ hackers because they’re all smoking weed

The Conversation (0)
x