Car Stolen by Scumbags

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I think car manufacturers have every reason to have their keyless systems be as insecure as possible. The more cars that get stolen, the more sales of cars they are likely to make once insurance companies pay out. They seem complicit in the whole thing...
I'm sure the numbers would be insignificant. And, if ever they did become significant they'd also become uninsurable.
 
There were a few insurances companies a while back that were refusing to insure RR/RRS & other JLR's with keyless as they were so nickable and easy to nick.

What I don't get is why the key fob is active. The car or door handle should be active and the key fob passive.

We supply/install/maintain Salto & Paxton door access control systems that are in effect the same thing. However the handle/reader is active and the fob/token passive. It is also very secure and can't easily be hacked. The car systems only need to be the same and they are more secure by design.
 
What I don't get is why the key fob is active. The car or door handle should be active and the key fob passive.

We supply/install/maintain Salto & Paxton door access control systems that are in effect the same thing. However the handle/reader is active and the fob/token passive. It is also very secure and can't easily be hacked. The car systems only need to be the same and they are more secure by design.

My understanding is that the keyfob is passive. It is listening for a communications from the car. Each time the door is attempted, or the start button is pressed, the car looks for the fob. The fob hears the communications and responds.
 
My understanding is that the keyfob is passive. It is listening for a communications from the car. Each time the door is attempted, or the start button is pressed, the car looks for the fob. The fob hears the communications and responds.
Ok, that is similar to the access control systems then. I guess the difference is tha most access control systems are using NFC or close proximity readers/fobs and cars are using radio waves?

My woking life has been in IT, networks, wireless and the like. There is an industry problem in that often features/functions arrive before security. The whole Internet is the same. Until we change this outlook and put security first these issues will be there.
 
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Ok, that is similar to the access control systems then. I guess the difference is tha most access control systems are using NFC or close proximity readers/fobs and cars are using radio waves?
Yeah, the i-button technology used on some alarm systems uses a keyfob that has no power at all. on coming withing 2-3mm of the locking mechanism, it using a technolody called parasitic power to take some power from the mechanism to power up the chip in the fob to do the authorisation.

I assume contactless credit/debit cards use the same system, i.e. there is no built in-power.

That type of system only work over very short distances. It is therefore not suitable for car type applications, as it would require the key to be taken out and pressed up to a sensor, which eliminates the entire selling power of keyless. However AFAIK,the key is fundamentally a listen then respond device. The innovation of stopping it from listening if it hasn't been moved for 30-40secs should solve the entire issue.

from good ol wikipedia

The system works by having a series of LF (low frequency 125 kHz) transmitting antennas both inside and outside the vehicle. The external antennas are located in the door handles. When the vehicle is triggered, either by pulling the handle or touching the handle, an LF signal is transmitted from the antennas to the key. The key becomes activated if it is sufficiently close and it transmits its ID back to the vehicle via RF (Radio frequency >300 MHz) to a receiver located in the vehicle. If the key has the correct ID, the PASE module unlocks the vehicle.
 
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