These “nefarious fob-like devices” don’t do their own encryption. They’re just amplifying and re-transmitting the owner’s valid encrypted fob signal.
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That’s my understanding as well. The thieves are not doing anything as sophisticated as breaking computer encryption. They are simply capturing radio signals (presumably broadcast by a fob or possibly a car) and re-broadcasting them for illegitimate purposes. .
So the person goes to a mall with the new Lexus and unknown is a person hanging out a little ways away, stealing her code as the doors are locked. Where is the signal more likely to be stolen, and where are there more targets ? In the garage or mall parking lot? Just don’t see the effectiveness unless you leave your car out in a bad neighborhood.
I’m always surprised that the insurance industry hasn’t responded to this new threat to profits. Does that mean they don’t think it’s worth worrying about? I wonder what the frequency of this sort of theft actually is. It would be a good homework assignment for the folks who are worried about it to do some research and report back the results.
It’s up to the driver how often they shield the fob. If you are comfortable leaving the fob unshielded when shopping then do it. A small metallized bag or metal box is easy enough to use that putting the fob inside is about as easy as putting it in your pocket without the faraday cage.
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+1
My $13.99 Faraday Box came with two of these Faraday pouches:
I gave one to a friend who doesn’t have a Faraday Box, but I haven’t yet used the other one. I was initially skeptical that the box and the pouches were truly effective, but my testing of them showed that they really do block the signal from the fob.
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No, one person follows you into the mall and has a device that triggers your FOB to respond. That signal is then relayed to another person standing next to your car with a repeater. The car thinks you are standing next to it…
And that’s what I’m saying they SHOULD be doing. It’s NOT that difficult. But right now, automotive manufacturers don’t consider this a priority.
The list in the link below shows ten of the least likely vehicles to be stolen. The Tesla Model S is least likely and I think all Teslas are included. All the security features they mention for the MS are also in my M3. The others tend to be top of the line for the manufacturers but lower trims might have the features too like Tesla.
That’s my understanding how the thieves do it too. Some years ago my local gym had a car theft problem. Folks would come out of the gym after their workout and find their car was missing. It turned out to be a similar scheme, but not using fobs.
I’m still not understanding from the above discussion what — if any ---- are the downsides for the car owner when they place the fob in the faraday cage? Are there no downsides to doing this? Or do you lose certain fob-related convenience functions?
You only place the fob in the cage when not using the car, so no downsides other than convenience.
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It is like storing your credit card in a protective sleave, you remove it from the sleave when it is time to use the card.
Yeah, your are right, there’s no downside to keeping your credit card in a special compartment, since you first need to remove it from your wallet to use it anyway. From the comments here I’m hearing likewise, there are no downsides for keeping the car key fob in a special compartment when not in active use. I was thinking maybe a convenience like being able to open a locked door without pressing a button on a fob might be lost if the fob was in the faraday cage protecting compartment.
Yes, it would be lost. That’s why you take it out first.
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I guess I’m still as confused as ever. If you take it out of the FC, don’t you then incur the theft risk?
When you get home, you take your fob out of your pocket, and instead of hanging it on the key rack or putting it on the counter, you put it in the faraday cage.
When you leave home you take it out of the faraday cage and put the fob in your pocket.
There is no 100% guarantee your car won’t be stolen no matter what you do,
But is a lot easier to steal your Ford or Toyota
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Yes.
Someone can take the key out of your hand and drive away with the vehicle, probably the most common way cars with push button start are stolen.
Ok, thanks for the explanation. As I understand the situation, with your procedure you don’t lose the convenience functions during your trip to the mall, but you you protect yourself against fob-based car theft when it is parked at home all night. But you still run the risk of having the car heisted during the shopping mall trip.
If you’re that worried about it, you put your fob in one of these when you get out of your car at the mall.
Why should George worry about this ? Does anyone even think he is ever going to have a vehicle with this really neat feature ?
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