Sales of keyless theft blockers soar as experts demand action

Sales of devices aimed at stopping keyless car thefts have rocketed as owners take action to block the growing threat of high-tech criminals.

After years of falling, car thefts are once again on the increase in many areas, with a growing number of vehicles vulnerable to being stolen in “relay” attacks.

Motoring retailer Halfords said that it had seen a 400 per cent jump in sales of the RFIDblocking wallets in the last two weeks in response to the growing number of cars being stolen in such attacks.

At the same time, Thatcham Research, the security body responsible for helping determine insurance groups, has announced plans to update its assessment programme to focus on “digitally compromised” vehicles.

Commenting on the rising sales figures, David Howells, Halfords’s car security expert said: “In-car security systems can only do so much to prevent a car being stolen. It seems that many anti-theft systems can be easily bypassed and using a simple device like an RFID wallet can prevent your fob being hacked.

“Classic steel steering locks also remain an extremely effective – and visual – way of deterring thieves, and we’ve recently seen a huge increase in sales of these as car owners turn to old school solutions.”

Thatcham Research said it had identified a number of vulnerabilities in on-board systems and will be updating its New Vehicle Security Assessment (NVSA) programme to focus on shutting down the keyless entry vulnerability, while anticipating other potential methods of digital and cyber compromise.

The NVSA is the security standard against which all new cars are assessed as part of the insurance group rating and will be updated in 2019.

Richard Billyeald, Thatcham Research’s chief technical officer, said: “Car crime is on the increase, with intelligence suggesting that electronic compromise is a factor in as many as one in four vehicle thefts.

“In the 1990s, the NVSA effectively brought an end to a car crime epidemic by introducing alarms and double-locking door functions, amongst other measures. Initiated in 1992, a year which saw 620,000 car thefts, this approach was instrumental in driving theft levels down by 80 per cent up to 2016.

“In the same way, collaborative and concerted action from Thatcham Research, carmakers, police and insurers will close the digital vulnerabilities exploited by today’s criminal gangs.”