Keyless entry systems in the car are convenient, but not always secure. Even with expensive premium vehicles, you cannot rely on the technology.
Keyless entry systems also offer a point of attack for criminals in the latest car models. In some vehicles, the signal from the remote control key can be intercepted particularly easily and misused for theft, as the British vehicle security center Thatcham Research has determined.
Of the eleven new cars tested in the 2019 model year, six were rated “weak” in terms of theft protection, including an expensive premium SUV such as the Porsche Macan and a high-tech vehicle such as the hydrogen car Hyundai Nexo. According to the experts, criminals could gain access to the vehicle without a key by intercepting radio signals on all models. The fact is also remarkable because the rest of the safety technology on board was rated as good and up-to-date.
Models such as Audi E-Tron, Jaguar XE, Range Rover Evoque and Mercedes B-Class, which use a better radio standard or otherwise secure the keys against eavesdropping, show that the so-called keyless entry systems do not have to be unsafe per se. Dispensing with keyless technology is not a solution anyway, as the Suzuki Jimny shows, who does not have to survive hacker attacks, but surrenders to old-fashioned criminal craft. He received the rating "unacceptable". In the future, the Thatcham Institute plans to regularly test new vehicle models against theft and publish the results.
In Germany, the ADAC, among others, has been criticizing the lack of protection for keyless systems for years. The automobile club uncovered systematic security gaps in technology at the beginning of 2017. In many cars, the radio signals from the car keys can be tapped remotely and then used to unlock and start the vehicle. According to the automobile club, the equipment required for this can be manufactured by laymen for around 100 euros from commercially available electronic components.