Smart Key Security Defeated.

OK, life with Smart Entry & Start disabled is a pain. It's one of those hi-tech aids you get used to it so much you don't even notice it's there anymore. Until it's gone missing.

It was easy to remember how to lock and unlock the car using the buttons on the key fob. The really awkward feeling is when you try to stick the key fob in the POWER button like we used to do in the old times with the car keys. But it doesn't stay there.

Besides, how theft-prone is that short range key fob ID check? RFID or something similar. The one car does when you approach the fob to the POWER button within an inch or two. With a bit more powerful transmitter and sensitive receiver, one could probably read that fob's ID from your pocket ten feet away.

I was thinking of some sort of dial to enter a PIN code to start a car. Or a hidden switch. Something that takes you like a second or two to unlock and is customizable.

The steering wheel immobilizers are out of the question.

I guess I just need to sleep over it for a while and let my paranoia fade away.

 

are car thefts a big problem in the area?

 

I put a switch in my old celica to kill the electric fuel pump. If someone had my key the car would start right up but wouldn't drive more than yelling distance. Just hide it were its really easy to get to then splice into a critical circuit..

 

A little perspective:
This is a five-year-old post, describing a decade old hack to a twenty year old technology.
21 years old, actually.

If this really were a "thing" (spoiler alert: It isn't!) then smart-keys wouldn't be, would they?

Priuses just don't get jacked that much, even in Caly, although some do get broken into I suppose.
Fortunately, I choose to live in a relatively low crime area and I'm not foolish enough to leave valuables in my car so I really don't sweat the break-in thing. The loose change in the seats isn't worth breaking out in a sweat over, and the radio in MY Prius never gets used, it sux so bad.
The idea of using SIGINT to get into a Prius when you can get in much faster by defeating the mechanical lock, or using blunt-force trauma is kind of quaint. Unless you have a tablet laying on the front seat or an NRA sticker on the bumper there's usually little profit for high risk and would-be car burglars usually just look for unlocked doors for the most part.

In other words....they work the problem from the bottom-up, not the top down.

 

No, not particularly. I just hate the idea my car has a security vulnerability.

 

Hasn't there always been an adversarial dance between security technology and criminal thievery?

I'm thinking since the first lock was made, it wasn't too long before some criminal mind was figuring out how to get around it.

I do think perspective needs to be maintained. That is, this is a 5 year old original post, and even though there have been reports of thieves using these methods to defeat the smart key system, overall this occurrence seems to still be very rare.

If you are concerned enough or reports in your area become common? Then perhaps investigating more extreme measures makes perfect sense.

For me now? I'm willing to live with the fact that no security technology is entirely undefeatable.
For me, in this dance the security fob, is still in the lead. If reports of this specific bypass of the system and theft grow? Then I'll more thoroughly investigate options. If it becomes too common my guess is that options are actually created for the consumer.

 

The reports in media do mention this kind of thievery is in increase (in Germany).

But you know the media - Fear sells best!

Sorry, I wasn't worried about somebody breaking-in my Prius that much. I don't leave any valuables in the car either.
It's about somebody driving away with my car.

I agree with other posts here: wireless car entry and start is such a convenience it is worth a risk.
Since there's a 0.001% chance you'd get hit by a truck, that doesn't stop you from driving, does it?

See: my paranoia is already fading out.

 

all cars have vulnerabilities i suppose. good not to worry too much.

 

So what was the easy cheap fix? Foil, Tiger, Monkey. Does foil actually work? Do they make a case for your FOB?

 

Try it. I wrapped a fob in a double layer of Costco's finest aluminum foil, the car couldn't detect it. But it had to tight: if it unfolded open a bit then it did detect.

 

Just park the Prius in a lead shielded garage - problem solved!

DBCassidy

 

I wonder if I put my fob in a small metal container that closed tightly if that would work? Altoids mint box??

 

i believe it will. test it and let us know please.