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Mysterious device gives thieves keyless entry to vehicles

Mysterious device gives thieves keyless entry to vehicles | ksl.com

Quote:

LONG BEACH, Calif. — As reported by CBS News, police in California are concerned by a recent surveillance video that shows thieves gaining access to locked vehicles. The three criminals have broken into at least seven vehicles, using small, handheld devices that cause “the vehicle’s dome light to come on and doors to unlock,” according to a news release from detective Joseph Starbird.

The break-ins took place on Feb. 26 in an East Long Beach neighborhood.

Auto theft experts from the Long Beach Police Department are stumped by the crimes and have consulted international law enforcement agencies and car manufacturers in an effort to identify the devices used by the thieves. Thus far, experts are unsure of the technology used.

Police have now turned to the public, asking for help with identifying the criminals and their keyless entry devices.

“This is a situation where technology is working against us, making our job much more challenging at a time where resources are already strained,” said Chief Jim McDonnell. “Just as law enforcement tactics evolve, so does the criminal element’s, and we need the community’s involvement more so than ever.”

Due to the stealthy nature of the vehicle crimes, police believe that there are likely many more victims who have been burglarized and not even realized it. They recommend that car owners remove all valuables and extra keys in their vehicles, as well as installing motion lights outside their homes.

This is not the first time that authorities have encountered thieves using high-tech devices for vehicle crime.

The Telegraph in London reported last year on how a rash of perplexing car thefts led police there to discover a sophisticated technique called lock jamming. Criminals would wait until a car owner parked the car, then as the owner attempted to lock the car remotely, the thieves used a handheld device to jam the locking signals from the owner’s remote key. After entering the unlocked car, the criminal would connect a key-programming device to its computer system and program a blank key to start the vehicle.

Thieves stole more than 1,000 vehicles in London alone last year using lock jamming. Car manufacturers are working to counteract techniques like lock jamming, but find it difficult to stay ahead of increasingly tech-savvy criminals.

manual door locks ftw! :badpokerface:

wow pretty clever criminals lol

Gotta love it:) for every problem there IS a solution ;)
Posted via RS Mobile

handheld devices that cause “the vehicle’s dome light to come on and doors to unlock”

Every time I have ever unlocked my car with the fob the dome light comes on. Someone is probably scanning the code when the person uses their fob and then replicating it. That's my guess anyway. Doesn't seem too mysterious.

my dad told me about this apparently you can buy the device in china for like 100 bucks ?

I am surprised that Law enforcement is surprised by this "recent" trend. A cars keyless entry would be a pretty armature hack. I remember in high school kids hacking garage door openers. Even governments, banks, Microsoft and apple have been hacked. Security and hacking is a constant game of cat and mouse, this is going to be difficult for car companies to stay on top of. Luckily most people smart enough to pull off a really good hack get paid a lot more than car thieves. The problem is the hackers who do it for pride and bragging rights after which why not sell off or profit from your hack. Cars would have to be linked up to a network frequently where they could receive software to prevent the latest hack exploits in order to really solve this problem. I would hate to see cars end up like computers needing almost weekly software updates just to stay locked.

ANY electronic device can be hacked... its just a matter of How Long it will take and if its worth it..

I thought the device would of been a rock or a hammer
Posted via RS Mobile

my coworker told me at our shop one time he pressed the keyfob on a lexus, got in, and the key wouldnt turn. he got out confused then pressed the keyfob again and found out two cars were beeping. he got into the other lexus after and started it.

not sure if tripping balls or legit

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Originally Posted by FerrariEnzo (Post 8210482)

ANY electronic device can be hacked... its just a matter of How Long it will take and if its worth it..

Anything can be hacked including manual doors, it does not have be electric to be hacked.

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Originally Posted by Manic! (Post 8210591)

Anything can be hacked including manual doors, it does not have be electric to be hacked.

I don't think jimmying a mechanical lock counts as hacking.
Posted via RS Mobile

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shorn (Post 8211437)

I don't think jimmying a mechanical lock counts as hacking.
Posted via RS Mobile

Well you could always hack it http://img.getit.in/0EGVDV6B4089176I...9361440001.jpg

whew. good thing i drive a piece of shit. car thieves wouldn't waste their time on something thats worth more as scrap than as a whole. and i leave my doors unlocked so crack heads don't bust any of my windows

^ Likewise. No one gonna touch my POS daily driver.

Even still.. I do put a Club on the steering wheel to deter them. There's always something easier to go after.

Had one customer, who was worried about buying a sx4 JLX because it has keyless entry and start. All worried about how someone can steal the signal and steal the car. Pretty sure if someone had that kind of technology to steal cars with keyless entry and start, they would be stealing some thing bigger in value than an sx4