The French, Spanish and Latvian authorities arrested, on October 17, a group of 31 people accused of stealing cars throughout Europe.
Their target of choice? Vehicles that open and start without a key, and in particular those of the Peugeot manufacturer. In 2021, 88% of vehicle thefts would have been carried out by means of a computer hack and this vast crackdown seems to be a good illustration of the adaptation of car thieves to new technologies.
An efficient and easy-to-implement procedure
Active mainly in France, this gang of car thieves was allegedly led by a Latvian and a Spaniard. And the modus operandi used is disarmingly simple: for 5,000 euros, the pirates sold the hardware as well as software for cloning the signal of an electronic key without needing access to the real key. According to their commercial pitch, this type of device makes it possible to copy an electronic key in less than 40 seconds. Immediately shipped abroad, these vehicles are then sold, leaving only slim chances to their owner to find their car.
Keyless vehicles have long been criticized for their lack of security. Thus, in February, a German study had tested 500 vehicles opening with such devices. The balance sheet? Only 21 of them resisted… Perhaps even worse, it would be possible to take control of certain Honda brand vehicles remotely, even if there is a driver on board!
How to protect yourself from keyless car theft?
However effective the method, it seems to have ended up showing its limits, given the figures for the operation. With more than 200 gendarmes mobilized in France alone, 31 people have been arrested, assets worth more than one million euros have been seized, and sites where the devices can be purchased have been closed.
While waiting for manufacturers to really look into the matter and find more effective means of combating this new crime, there are, if you are the owner of such a vehicle yourself, means of protecting it from it. Old-fashioned but still effective, the anti-theft cane is a good first example. But for the specific case of keyless cars, an excellent way to increase security is to keep the card or the key fob allowing you to open it well protected in a box as long as you are not using it. This avoids copying the signal. Finally, installing a car alarm and a GPS tracking system makes it possible to react quickly and considerably increase the chances of finding a stolen vehicle.
Source : Bleeping Computer, Zataz
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