Should you wrap your key fob in foil?
Given that the bestway to store your car keys at night is by putting them in a coffee can, what’s an ex-FBI agent’s advice to protect cars from theft during the day?
Wrap car fobs in aluminum foil.
“Although it’s not ideal, it is the most inexpensiveway,” saidHollyHubert, a cybersecurity expert who retired in 2017 from the FBI in Buffalo, New York. “The cyber threat is so dynamic and ever changing, it’s hard for consumers to keep up.”
Now, as CEO of Global Security IQ, she suggests clients go onlineandspenda fewdollars and buywhat’s called a Faraday bag to shield the fob signal frompotential theft. Imagine a traditional sandwich bag madeof foil instead of plastic.
Thing is, the car is always waiting for the fob signal. Thieves can buy legitimate devices that amplify the fob signal sitting unprotected in a purse, a pocket, on a counter at home or even just copy the code to access the vehicle.
Copying code from key fobs isn’tdifficult. Andthis is something the auto industry and insurance companies are monitoring closely.
Thecheap (orhomemade) metal protection covers, named for the scientist who figured out how to block an electromagnetic field, can prevent thieves fromhaving access tovehicleswith awirelessfob. Currently, thievescan capture fob signals fromoutside a home, office or hotel room.
“You know it works if you can’t unlock a car doorwhen the fob is inside,” saidMoshe Shlisel, CEO of GuardKnox Cy ber Technologies and a veteran of the Israeli Air Force who helped develop cyber protection for fighter jets and missile defense systems.
“The credit card holders don’t work because they’re essentially a net rather than a wall.”
He visited Detroit recently tomeetwith automakers. He’s alreadyworking with Daimler on Mercedes-Benz vehicles and the Volkswagen Group on Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen products – to protect them from hackers. Other clients and potential clients have asked to remain confidential.
Shlisel showed the Free Press a newvideo of his company’s engineers taking control of a semi-truck through the use of a cellphone. Numerous videos have been posted online to illustrate that vulnerability is an industrywide problem.
Canned key fob
He helduphis fob and said, “This should be something we don’t need to wrap with foil. It’s 2018. Car companies need to find a way so no one can replica te the messages and the communication between the key and the vehicle.”
At home, Sh l is el puts his key fob in a can with foil around it to add another layer. In his pocket, he carries the fob for his 2017 Ford F-150 in a little pouch that is made of fabric on the outside and foil inside.
Cybersecurity experts say privately that anyone who knows anything about the ease of auto and personal data hacking practices safe fob storage.
CliffordNeuman, directorof the USC Center for Computer Systems Security in Los Angeles, pointed to the millions of consumers who now carry their credit cards in a protective pocket designed to work as a Faraday cage.
“We’re talking about electronic burglary tools or car theft tools,” he said. “You go up to a house with a car parked in front of it, detect a fob 10 feet away in a bedroom and it allows the car to be unlocked. As these devices become more available, this scenario becomes more and more likely.”
Neumanadded, “Cars used tobe hot-wired. That used to be common, but was an accepted risk. This will become a new technique used by criminals. How much you are concerned, andwhat you do about it, is a matter of risk management.”
Peoplewho store their fobs in Faraday cages aren’t paranoid, experts say.
Jay Becker man doesn’ t want to wrap his key fob in aluminum foil before leaving home, but he says he is learning that maybe it’s a good idea.
After the Free Press wrote an article inMay about cybersecurity experts not going to bed before stashing their car “keys” in metal coffee cans to prevent theft, the retired journalist from Phoenix ville, Pa., wrote to say, “I can’t carrymy keys in ametal can during the day. What do I do?”
He went on, “I bought a Samsonite RFID pouch from Staples, put my fob wholly in the pouch, stood about 10 feet from my car, a 2004 Audi A6, and pressed the buttons from the outside. But the lock and unlock buttons worked, lights went on and off. Same with a 2013 A4. Not the desired outcometo foil amiscreant snooper. Though they might fit in a purse, Altoidcans probably aren’t deep enough andwouldn’twork in a pants pocket. Band-Aidsdon’tcome in small cans anymore.”
Sh li se ls aid at the time ,“The best thing you can do is keep your key in a small tin can wrapped with aluminumfoil. But in a purse or pocket, just aluminumfoil willdothe job.”
Becker man was one of many readers who called or emailed the Free Press from around the country saying theywanted to learn more.
This is the reality of a wireless, connected world where cardoors lock with a click and a chirp, where children in the back seat stream videos and companies can update software technology remotely.
While auto industry engineers know a lot about traditional safety, quality, compliance and reliability challenges, cyber is an “adaptive adversary,” said Faye Francy, executive director of the nonprofit Automotive Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which specializes in cybersecurity strategies. “Automakers are starting to implement security features in every stage of design and manufacturing. This includes the key fob.”
Hackel’s Explorer stolen
MacombCounty Executive Mark Hackel is still trying to figure out what happened to the 2016 Ford Explorer parked in his driveway at home. Surveillance cameras recorded a thief approaching his vehicle around 4:20 a.m. on the last Saturday in May. It was parked close to the Macomb Township home with exterior lights shining brightly.
Hackel always locks the car door when he comes home. And he remembers doing so this time, too.
“Itwould look like daylight onmy driveway,” Hackel said. “And there’s a streetlight in front ofmy house. I play back this video andsee a guycreeping up alongsidemy house. It shocked me because of how well lit it was and the proximity to my house. I couldn’ t see anything in his hands but he had something that unlocked the car doors. Iwatched the interior and exterior lights went on and he opened the door.”
Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said the case is under investigation.