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Black-Box Break-In Device In the News, Again
Electronic devices that thieves can use to remotely “clone” a vehicle’s remote key fob are back in the news after being rediscovered by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
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Electronic devices that thieves can use to remotely “clone” a vehicle’s remote key fob are back in the news after being rediscovered by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
Police have reported the existence of such devices, which enable thieves to enter and drive away a car without damaging it, since 2013, according to media reports at the time. NICB first warned owners about the threat in August 2014.
The group has since been able to obtain one of the “mystery devices” from an overseas source and confirm its effectiveness. NICB says the system it tested informally was able to unlock and start the engine in half the 35 models it tested.
The hacking system consists of a book-size device that electronically captures a remote key fob’s signal, then relays it to a second device the size of a cellphone. The second device, called a relay box, then mimics the fob’s commands. NICB concedes there appears no effective way yet to thwart such a device.
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