Plenty of cars that skip the key for entry and start-up are still surprisingly easy to break into. Nearly 50% of vehicles can be unlocked illegally using a radio signal, and around 33% can have their engine started the same way. Solutions do exist, but few manufacturers actually build them into standard equipment. That's the finding from Germany's automotive organisation ADAC, following 10 years of testing.
ADAC's database covers more than 850 vehicle models examined by specialists, giving it a substantial body of evidence. For each model, ADAC's engineers try to unlock and start the vehicle using commercially available radio signal extension equipment, better known as a "relay attack" kit.
The good news is that the problem is shrinking over time, with fewer cars vulnerable to relay attacks than a decade ago, and 70% of models now offering improved protection. But that's not enough, ADAC argues, since illegal access to keyless cars needs to be largely eliminated. ADAC's 2023 assessment of more than 600 vehicles found that only 44 models had the strongest protection available.
UWB, short for Ultra Wideband, measures how long a signal takes to travel around the car in order to calculate the real distance between the key and the vehicle, making conventional relay attacks ineffective. A relayed signal takes noticeably longer, so the system flags the attempted deception and keeps the car locked.
In the UK, Thatcham Research, a vehicle security assessor for the insurance industry, keeps downgrading its ratings for cars vulnerable to keyless relay attacks. Keyless-access vehicles now account for 60%-70% of reported car thefts in the UK. In the Netherlands, 59% of stolen vehicles were keyless models. It's worth noting that not all thefts of keyless-access vehicles involved the radio relay method.
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
