Thieves 'Keying' In On Keyless Entry

Clark, NJ September 16th 2015 -

A recent poll done by vehicle valuation firm Kelley Blue Book asked motorists about vehicle hacking, the latest ploy thieves are using in order to steal belongings locked inside a car, or even make off with an automobile itself. Nearly 75% of respondents believed that this phenomenon would be a frequent problem in the future.

Well, apparently, the future has arrived, perhaps a bit earlier than people expected.

More than 40% of auto theft in London related to keyless entry
It’s called keyless car theft, a scheme in which hackers gain entry into parked automobiles with high-tech gadgets that jam signals allowing a car to remain locked. With the press of a button, they’re inside and free to wreak havoc. In London, this kind of car theft accounts for 42% of the vehicles reported stolen, according to Bloomberg.

“This is a serious flaw and it’s not very easy to quickly correct,” said Tim Watson, director of Cyber Security at the University of Warwick. “It isn’t a theoretical weakness, it’s an actual one and it doesn’t cost theoretical dollars to fix, it costs actual dollars.”

While keyless entry is a relatively new feature, which often comes standard, the technology has been around for well over a decade. In that time, hackers have honed their underhanded tactics in an effort to exploit security vulnerabilities.

Last month, researchers from Radboud University in the Netherlands presented their findings at USENIX security conference in Washington, D.C. They discussed how hackers have been able to use this technology against itself to gain entry into a wide variety of makes and models.

Volkswagen is among the brands hackers have gone after with abandon.

“The attack is quite advanced, but VW produces a lot of very high-end vehicles that get stolen to order,” noted Andrew Tierney a security researcher, Bloomberg reported. “The criminals involved are more sophisticated than the sorts who just steal your keys and drive off with your car.”

Researchers and automotive security experts say that the solution to the problem is to replace the chips in remote key fobs as well as the transponders that receive wireless signals telling the vehicle to lock.

VW: Security measures technologically sound
For its part, Volkswagen has issued a statement regarding the security glitch. The German automaker said that it stands behind the belief that all of its mechanical security features are technologically up-to-date and that several models are immune to this threat, specifically the 2015 Passat and Golf.

Several other brands use the same kind of keyless auto security that Volkswagen does, most of them in the luxury segment, including Audi, Bentley, Maserati, Porsche and Bentley.

This suggests that virtually every brand is vulnerable to hacking. At 70%, Fiat Chrysler automobiles is the make that consumers in the KBB poll believe is the most susceptible to this kind of theft. Nearly 50% also cited General Motors, 30% Ford Motor Company and 18% Toyota.

How the auto industry approaches this latest security threat is up for debate, but there’s no getting around the fact that it’s a very real and present danger. The National Insurance Crime Bureau offers tips on how to avoid being targeted by thieves. Also, be sure to update your auto insurance policy with comprehensive protection, which covers for theft. Contact The Insurance Centers to learn how.

For information and quotes on insurance coverage, please The Insurance Centers site. Or contact Zita Santos-Martinez at 732-832-4132.

Photo and article courtesy of Selective Insurance Group, Inc.