Does your car have push-button ignition? Be wary then because thieves may have a new technology that allows them to start your car and drive away with it, leaving nary a trace.
The theft can be accomplished using a 'mystery device', which comes in two pieces, and works by picking up a signal from the vehicle’s key fob from up to 10 feet away, reported US-based Automotive News yesterday.
"Once the signal is received, the device transfers the data to a smaller “relay box” that can be used to unlock and start the vehicle, said the report, which quoted a spokesman from the US National Insurance Crime Bureau.
The report stated that the bureau had obtained and tested the so-called “mystery device”.
NICB spokesman Roger Morris said the bureau, working in cooperation with a used-car retailer, tested the device on 35 makes and models of cars.
They were able to unlock 19 of the cars and drive away with 18 of them. The “scary part is that there’s no warning or explanation for the owner.
Unless someone catches the crime on a security camera, there’s no way for the owner or the police to really know what happened.
Many times, they think the vehicle has been towed.” said NICB CEO Joe Wehrle, as reported by Automotive News.
So far, there has been no such incidences heard in Malaysia.
However, Malaysia is already ranked number sixth globally in number of auto-thefts last year.
With an average of 60 cars being stolen daily in the country, it raises the question whether this new hacking technology has already made it to our shores.
Original article from http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/12/195446/does-your-car-have-push-button-ignition-thieves-may-have-new-device-steal-it
