Some car thieves don’t need your keys in order to break into your car.
So how are they doing this? Steve Lobello, who owns security system installation company S&A Security Specialists near Chicago, told KNX In Depth the thieves are using a “relay attack.”
“It is two devices where one thief will walk up to the front of your building and he has what he calls a signal repeater,” he said. “Once he gets a hold of the key signal…what they do is energize that signal and send it across a couple of yards or a couple hundred feet, depending on the tool receiver. Once he receives the signal, he just simply touches the door handle on the car and the vehicle thinks the key is there. Then it just allows you to get in step on the brake, start it, and drive it away.”
Protecting your car and keys, he says, isn’t difficult or expensive. In fact, one of the tools you can use can be found at the grocery store.
“Get some thick Reynolds wrap and put your keys inside some tinfoil…when the vehicle is not being used,” he said. “What the tinfoil essentially does [is] it blocks the key from emitting its signal.”
If you want to go the extra mile, Lobello said you can use an aluminum box with a lid or an aluminum pouch to make a homemade Faraday cage.
Listen to the full interview with Steve Lobello in the audio above.