Cyber Criminals Seeking Luxury Cars
Car hacking is becoming more and more common, as UK criminals figure out how to disable new vehicle safety systems.
Khodrocar - Criminals are becoming increasingly adept at disarming modern technologies – including immobilisers and alarms – as well as exploiting keyless entry systems in vehicles.
Earlier this year, a study was conducted which revealed 110 cars on the roads in the UK and Europe with keyless entry systems could be hacked in seconds.
These devices work in pairs with one transmitter near the key fob and the other near the vehicle.
The transmitters can work up to 100 metres away, which means the cars can be infiltrated while parked on a drive outside your home.
The radio signal received by the transistors mimics the legitimate one issued by the fob – and allows the criminals to unlock the car and start the engine.
According to research by RAC, car thefts in England and Wales have increased from 65,783 in 2013 to 85,688 in 2017.
The data was gathered after a Freedom of Information request was made to four separate police forces across England and Wales.
RAC Insurance director Mark Godfrey said: "Tech advances had caused the number of vehicle thefts to decrease significantly from more than 300,000 in 2002.
"But they have now increased after bottoming out in 2013 and 2014.
"This is bad news for motorists as it has the effect of causing insurance premiums to rise at a time when they are already being pushed up by a variety of factors.
"Anti-theft devices such as steering wheel locks are starting to make a comeback as they are a very effective visible deterrent.
"It’s ironic as they were replaced by alarms and immobilisers, which until now, offered better theft prevention.”
Drivers with keyless entry systems can stop cars being stolen while they’re home by using a Faraday cage, which block the electronic signal being transmitted.
Some key fobs also allow motorists to switch off the signal.
Commenting on the figures from the RAC, Stuart Young, head of automotive at the international law firm, Gowling WLG, said:
"Car security technology is advancing at a rapid rate but it is always in an "arms race” with car criminals.
"As vehicles become increasingly connected – and that’s not limited to the development of driverless vehicles – they become more vulnerable to cyber threats and that must be addressed in practical terms by both OEMs and device manufacturers by making technology more robust at the virtual points of entry where criminals can gain access.
"If they don’t take the lead then government may become more proactive and look to update, or introduce new, legislation that forces automotive manufacturers to prioritise customer security, as well as safety over commercial considerations."
In the list of criminal's favorite
cars, there are some familiar names such as:
Kia Optima, Renault Megane, Renault Kadjar, Opel Astra, Toyota C-HR,
Hyundai Santa Fe, Hyundai i40, Hyundai i30, Toyota Prius, Infiniti Q30
and…
As we can see there are some luxury cars in the list that are available in Iran too, so the drivers of these cars have to be more careful about the cars and they can use some old anti-thief methods as well.
Source: express.co.uk
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