Hey Guys,

If you own a Tesla, you might want to start storing your key in a Faraday cage as hackers have figured out how to break into your car using a radio-frequency relay attack that targets the near-field communication (NFC) between your car and your key.

You can read the full article from Jalopnik HERE, and here is a little snippet:

“Relay attacks in cars are nothing new. Thieves have been using them for years to gain unauthorized access to vehicles equipped with keyless entry and start systems, by fooling the car into thinking that precious fob is present and accounted for. But certain forms of keyless entry, like Tesla’s credit card keys or BMW’s cell phone access, have been largely immune to these attacks — until now.

Radio relay attacks are technically complicated to execute, but conceptually easy to understand: attackers simply extend the range of your existing key using what is essentially a high-tech walkie-talkie. One thief stands near you while you’re in the grocery store, intercepting your key’s transmitted signal with a radio transceiver. Another stands near your car, with another transceiver, taking the signal from their friend and passing it on to the car. Since the car and the key can now talk, through the thieves’ range extenders, the car has no reason to suspect the key isn’t inside — and fires right up”

You can watch a YouTube of the attack in action HERE.

How can you protect yourself?

I hate to say it, but at the moment, the only way to protect yourself is by storing your key in a faraday cage-style wallet or pouch. You can buy these online or make an at-home faraday cage by wrapping your key in layers of plastic and foil; you can kill its ability to communicate with anything in any way. The foil blocks anything from coming in or going out and stops your key from being targeted.

With all these new technological advances, it is pretty funny that we must resort to wrapping car keys in foil to stop our expensive cars from being stolen!

I will let you know as soon as I have a better solution for you.

All the best,

Max Roberts,
Incognito Privacy Care Team