How to foil the thieves

EXPATS returning home during the school holidays and Bahrainis preparing their summer trips abroad have been warned about gadget thieves stealing hire cars … and are urged to have a supply of tin foil close to hand.

Although insurance comes with bookings, often excess charges for theft and any damage caused can leave a nasty financial sting in the tail and ruin a vacation.

Last year, there were 89,000 vehicles stolen in England and Wales, a 56 per cent increase over the previous year and keyless entry cars seems to be the reason for the rise. Thieves use sophisticated tech to fool the car into thinking the key is nearby, allowing them to enter the vehicle and drive it away.

The process criminals use to steal a car via keyless theft – also known as relay theft – is relatively simple. First, they buy devices that amplify the fob signal sitting unprotected in a purse, a pocket, on a counter or even just copy the code to access the vehicle.

Next, they identify a new car parked and, by using these gadgets, can detect whether it features keyless entry and go. One criminal then stands by the car with his transmitter, while a second waves his amplifier around the perimeter of the house, apartment or hotel room. If the car key is close enough the amplifier will detect its signal, amplify it and send it to the accomplice’s transmitter.

This transmitter then effectively becomes the key, and tricks the car into thinking the real key is nearby, whereupon the thieves are able to open the car, get in and drive away. The whole process can take as little as 60 seconds and can be completed in near silence and, as for safety reasons, the engine won’t just cut out when the key is out of range, there is very little to stop the thieves … until now.

It appears that the threat of thieves hijacking wireless signals to break into cars could be beaten by an unlikely low-tech solution – wrapping a car key fob in tin foil.

Using aluminium foil blocks out signals from key fobs, which have been found to be vulnerable to a so-called relay attack.

“You should store your car key fob in aluminium foil. Although it’s not ideal, it is the most inexpensive way,” said Holly Hubert, a US cyber security expert who retired in 2017 from the FBI. “The cyber threat is so dynamic and ever changing, it’s hard for consumers to keep up.”

Now, as CEO of GlobalSecurityIQ, she also suggests travellers go online and spend a few dinars and buy what’s called a ‘Faraday bag’ to shield the fob signal from potential theft. The car is always waiting for the fob signal.

And this is something the auto industry and insurance companies are monitoring closely.

The cheap (or homemade) metal protection covers, named after the scientist who figured out how to block an electromagnetic field, can prevent thieves from having access to vehicles with a wireless fob.

Manufacturers are already working on new systems too. A few new models already have set-ups that aren’t vulnerable to relay attacks.