Newly circulated video footage showing a keyless entry vehicle being stolen in mere seconds through a relay attack has renewed the automotive security community’s push to educate drivers about the critical importance of shielding their key fobs when not in use. The footage compresses a sophisticated theft operation into a brief sequence that is remarkable for its speed and the apparent ease with which the thieves defeat security systems that cost manufacturers enormous sums to develop. The solution — a Faraday cage pouch or metal container that prevents the key’s signal from being picked up and amplified — is available for just a few dollars at most electronics retailers.
Insurance industry data suggests that relay attack thefts account for a rapidly growing percentage of vehicle thefts involving modern keyless entry models, yet consumer awareness of the countermeasure remains remarkably low. Manufacturers have been slow to implement hardware fixes, citing the cost and complexity of retrofitting existing security architectures. In the meantime, the responsibility falls on individual vehicle owners to take the simple precautionary step of shielding their key fobs each night. Given the cost of a Faraday pouch relative to the cost of losing a vehicle, it represents one of the most cost-effective automotive security investments available.
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