Theft for a signal amplifier: How does it work?How to defend yourself?The expert advises

We talk to Michał Krzemiński, an expertin car electronics from Crash Data Poland.We ask about the theft on a suitcase, which is feared by people with cars with non -exclusive access.We will try to find out if it is easy to steal a car with a keyless system and what are the security methods.

Car thefts with a non -bondable system have become common, because for thieves they are easy and not very risky, and there are more and more such cars.How to recognize that we can fall victim to such aft and how to defend ourselves against it?We asked the expert.

Do you deal with car electronics and be a court expertin this area, what is your professional contact with the theft of cars with Keyless access?

We examine a fairly large number of events like "There is no car, keys left".This is the effect of the theft of the so -called.a method for a suitcase that uses cunning cars.Insurance companies report to us for an expertise when the customer reports the theft of the car and still has the keys to him.Then we check if the keys are actually from this car and whether they are active and whether they are original or made.We can also check what the last registered course was and what was the date and time of the last use.In French manufacturers' cars, you can also read, for example.What was the fuel level with the last use of the key and other statistical data.By reading the report from the damage, theinsurer "collides" with the data from the protocol and key.

Please explain how the theft is for a suitcase.

Two cooperating people are needed.Each of them is equipped with a device for strengthening the signal from the key.One person holds the device trying to get closer to the door or window of the house, where he expects to find a car key.The second is approaching the car near his handle or tailgate, to the place where the receiving antennas of the wireless system are placed.In some cars, it is enough for them to get closer to these two points and they don't have to do anything more for the car to open.In others, they will have to touch the button several timesin the door handle.Then they must move the receiving part of the deviceinside the car, because the car thinking that the key is outside will not start.All you have to do is start the ignition and drive away.

The car will not go out when the thief leaves the house and the key will not bein the car?

The thief will only show a message that connecting to the key has been lost.Despite the fact that the device will not transmit a signal from the key, the car will not turn off.Currently applicable regulations do not allow you to turn off the running car even when it lost connectivity with the key.He could, for example, stay on the tracks.Therefore, a stolen car can get to its destination.Thieves often hold a car started to allow it to be transported furtherindependently.I read about the case when the neighbors worried that the garage next to a long time was coming out of a couple.It turned out that it was there for two days, a properly refueled car was not extinguished, because it was to move on its own wheels.Apparently it was not his destination, i.e. the hollow,in which he was to be demolishedinto parts.

What distance does such devices work and are only residents of single -family houses threatened?Maybe it is also possible to steal a car to a person living on a high floorin a block of flats?

Inhabitants of blocks can also be afraid.In fact, the key signal is not reinforced.This is the frequency he works on is convertedinto another.If the key works at a frequency of 75 kHz, then strengthening it would be very impractical, because a large backpack enhancer would be needed.Thieves catch the original frequency and turn itinto another to send it over a long distance, e.g..on the frequency of 446 MHz, i.e. used by wireless electronic nanny.They use a frequency at which it can legally broadcast 0.5 W, and illegally even 20 W and no one will notice it.Therefore, this distance can reach up to one kilometer.If both cooperating thieves approach the key and car properly, then the distance between them is not crucial, it can be said that they do not restrain their movements.

How is the price of a ready -to -steal device set?

This technology has been around for 5 years, so prices are lowering.The price of the first protrusion reaches 20 thousand.euro.The margin is of course high, because the technology itself is worth several hundred dollars.But the Chinese effectively copy this technology, which reduces its price.After the Chinese copied, with professional suppliers for the thief of the environment, these devices cost 2-4 thousand.euro.

Is it easy to buy such a device?

Purchase is easy.There is one popular YouTube channel run by a company from Lebanon, whose offer is for thieves like a sweets shop.Specializein selling car theft tools.You can buy there, M.in.Signal extension suitcase, automated lockpicks for opening locks, or tools for non -fertile mocking keys.They still have a competition a few streets further in Lebanon and in a more familiar state in Lithuania.

Will only theft experts steal on the suitcase and how much is the idiotic resistance of these devices?

Very big.These devices are made in such a way as to not require any specialist technical knowledge from the stealing vehicle.On the site of theft, no burglary expert is needed, two people who want to earn are enough.

What size is the device?Is the person using him very hard?

The first devices that were brought to the car were about the size of a laptop bag.The second with which the house was approached was the size of two packs of cigarettes with two 20 cm antennas protruding.At the moment, both the both device can have the size of one packet of cigarettes and will fit in a women's handbag.A woman intending to rob us, sitting at a table next to the restaurant, would not even have to make any suspicious movements, she would just have a device in a purse.We would not notice anything, and her partner would leave our car.

How do car manufacturers protect us against this type of theft?

I am surprised by their carelessness.Someone did not think at all that this type of attack can be used.Most of these systems are vulnerable to such thefts.Once, when there was a theft topic of copying pilots on time, it was obvious that the producers took over.A walking code was introduced - security in which the code changed after each use.When the era of non -clickless access came, the manufacturers choked on this function and as if they forgot that it should be secured somehow.

At the moment, for example, for example.Land Rover.They began to measure the delay that accompanies the radio signal transmission.These are microseconds, but if we have a quick processor on board the car, we are able to assess whether this key is nearby and whether this key has been extended.Then these systems are immunized for attempts to use when the key is too far away.But this is just the beginning and most of the systems used in cars are not resistant to it. Nowe modeleLand Rover i Jaguara takie zabezpieczenia już mają.There are also producers who allow you to disable this function.I also assembled a security with which it was possible to disable the wireless function with the help of a well -known driver.Then the extension of the key will not work.

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Były teżinne próby uniemożliwienia ataków.For example.detect the physical presence of the owner.One of the companies tried to use the 360 camera used in some vehicles.However, I do not know if it is effective.I know that the measuring methods, i.e. the delay of radio signal transmission, have been considered the most reliable.

How do you protect yourself against the attack yourself?Does keeping the keys in a metal box work?

Keeping the keys in a metal box works because the laws of physics do not change and the Faraday cage is still working.It is also worth not holding the keys at the door or the window.Devices used by thieves also have their limited range, a subway or two order.The thief must be a bit of luck, sometimes bypass the house around and check at which window the device will work.If the key is in a more distant point of the apartment, then the attack may fail.Logistics takes the most time to thieves.The signal transmission itself is a second.Not practical to remove the battery from the key also works, because the method for a suitcase requires that the key to be active in the key.Protective pouches available on the market, most of them also work.

And more advanced security like an immobilizer?

I think all the time that the wisely installed immobilizer is effective.First of all, it cannot be a factory solution.Patents are on all factory solutions.There is one company in Poland that specializes only in the production of immobilizer emulators.Export these products in very large quantities.The immobilizer emulator is a 2 cm tile per 1 centimeter, on which the jumpers are chosen by a program that pretends to be a disarmed immobilizer.The tiles are available to several dozen, if not several hundred brands of cars.Such a plate we can cheat the lock of the car systems, pretending that the immobilizer lock was released.After a maximum of several months from the appearance of the factory lock on the market, the possibility of unlocking it is added to the tile.

Secondly, we should not assemble the security in the way it is used, i.e. in assembly in obvious places.Just tilt a piece of upholstery and you can see where the protection is placed.An overwhelmed electrician after opening the can in a minute will guess which wires need to be extended, even if all the wires in the beam are black.

How do you choose a good immobilizer?

Kluczowa jest właściwainstalacja zabezpieczeń. Cena zainstalację immobilizera powinna dwukrotnie przekraczać cenę samego immobilizera.Then the cables are buried in factory beams and wrapped with tape, which looks like a factory.The thief does not have enough time to disassemble half a car to find the security. Często zdarza się tak, że część wiązki jest owinięta taśmąinną niż fabryczna, wtedy od razu widać, że ktoś tam był.The installation should be well made, tailored to a specific copy, not on the principle that in Toyota we always install at the left post B in the bottom.That is why such solutions still have potential if the thief is not determined to drive away with the car on the tow truck.

Wisely installed anti -theft protection, it can even protect our car against theft on the so -called.A set when the thief arrives with his own engine controller, with his own immobilizer and with his own key. To metoda stosowana od lat i właściwie przed nią nie ma żadnejinnej obrony.

Will the thief be made by theft when we keep a few keys next to each other at home with the function of non -clutchless access?

It could be a problem for a thief.If they all begin to communicate at once or speak on common frequencies, then this radio mish-you can cause a trick for a suitcase.By accident, security may be created.

Is it possible to track the car that will leave our home?

Solutions using the Lojack or similar radio module, give the vehicle a chance to track down.They do not work at general frequencies, which are heavily drowned out.Work at their own frequency and have less restrictions on the power of broadcasting.But they are only slightly more effective than solutions using GSM or GPS.If we close the car to a tight metal container, unfortunately the laws of physics make this solution stop working.The transmitter is not able to broadcast any wave outside.

Sometimes theft is just the beginning of trouble, can the owner robbed by the suitcase method have trouble with the insurer?

The owner may find himself in a troublesome situation, because his car was launched with his own key and then disappeared.There will be no trace after using the signal extension equipment.The suitcase is a primitive analog extension.Provides full two -way connectivity between the car and the key in conditions when they are not close to each other.Using a suitcase, both the car and the key behave as if they were side by side. Samochód przekaże do kluczyka zwrotnąinformację, że nastąpił rozruch.The insurer will always ask for the keys and give them to such a company as ours and the analysis will come out that the car has been stolen using its own key.

How can the owner of a stolen vehicle defend himself in the insurance company?

In our opinions, we always point out that a solution has appeared on the market that allows you to extend the signal or make a key in an unauthorized way.You can also determine whether the key used was original.Once, making a non -original one took two days, which were needed to disassemble the ignition, blocking and controller.Now Lithuanian, Latvian or Chinese tools have appeared, which allow you to connect to the OBD connection. Wykorzystuje się kawałekinterfejsu z diodą podczerwieni, po włożeniu go do stacyjki, w kilka minut jest dokodowany nowy kluczyk.

We have no influence on the company's decision, but in my opinion these decisions are mostly reasonable.However, there were exceptions that, although the opinion was neutral or testified in favor of the owner of the vehicle, it was used by the insurer to his disadvantage.However, these are not frequent cases.If the owner of the car has a clear conscience, he goes to court and I, most often as the author of the opinion, I provide a witness.The court may appoint an additional expert to verify my version.However, he cannot close his ears that the technology could be used, thanks to which the situation looks like an original key was used, although the owner has nothing on the conscience.

What future do car manufacturers prepare for us in the field of access to cars?

I think that ultimately the keys will be replaced with a smartphone application and, contrary to appearances, it will be better and safer than what was used so far.On the smartphone, we can implement the correct cryptography or two -step authentication.Such solutions will need to be balanced to ensure the right speed of operation.After all, we do not want to enter passwords or confirm with SMS access to the car.While migration to smartphone platforms brings new, additional attack vectors such as a smartphone burglary, it should be a safer solution.Current solutions are simply open communication on radio waves.Solutions based on smartphones will begin to spread and it will be a step forward.

Finally, tell me, did you meet any unusual methods of protection against theft on a suitcase?

I saw a key covered with aluminum foil, in which the owner left only a tiny window.The key worked from a really short distance, only near the door handle.And in order to start the car, it had to be applied to a specific place, where the antenna was placed.But if something is stupid and works, it means it's not stupid.