A Faraday cage for your car can significantly reduce your risk of becoming the victim of a relay attack on your vehicle’s keyless entry system.
Criminals can use a relay attack to steal your car while you’re at home or work… Learn how a Faraday cage, aka a “Faraday box”, can protect you and your personal belongings from vehicle theft.
What Is A Relay Attack?
A relay attack is a sophisticated method of vehicle theft that exploits vulnerabilities in remote keyless entry systems.
Also known as a “signal amplification relay attack” (SARA), or “communication protocol relay attack”, this technique is used by car thieves to intercept your key fob’s radio signal, amplify it and relay it between a vehicle and its key fob.
Whether you own a Tesla, BMW, Porsche or other vehicle that might be targeted, criminals can use a relay attack to gain access to your vehicle.
Typically working in pairs, automotive thieves will capture and amplify your key fob signal to unlock and gain access to your car without having physical possession of your key fob… Then they can steal the contents of your car or even drive off with it!
How Does A Relay Attack Work?
Similar to how Siri is always listening for your voice prompt, your vehicle and its key fob are always looking for one another… The key fob is constantly transmitting an RFID radio signal at a frequency of about 315 MHz. The range to intercept this signal is around 5-20 meters… However, the fob needs to be close to your vehicle to detect the signal and unlock the car.
In a relay attack, car thieves typically work in pairs… The attack works like this:
- Car Thief #1 Triggers Vehicle Authentication: A car thief stands next to your vehicle and uses a handheld device that impersonates a key fob. The thief pulls the door handle on your vehicle, triggering an authentication challenge by your vehicle security system that is searching for the key fob associated with your vehicle.
- Car Thief #2 Amplifies The Key Fob Signal Coming From Inside Your Home: A second thief walks around your house with an amplification antenna to try to capture the radio signal from the key fob inside your house.
- Key Fob Responds: Once thief #2 captures and amplifies the key fob signal, it’s relayed to thief #1’s device while he’s near your vehicle. The amplified signal from the antenna authenticates with the vehicle as if the key fob were near your car.
- Your Car Door Unlocks: The vehicle believes your key fob is near the car, unlocking the car… The first thief can then open the door, get in, clean out the vehicle, start the vehicle, etc.
Criminals can use a relay attack to steal your car while you’re at home or work… A Faraday cage for your car can significantly reduce your risk of becoming the victim of a relay attack on your vehicle’s keyless entry system. This is the “Faraday box” shown in the video, which can protect you and your personal belongings from vehicle theft.
Stealing More Than Your Vehicle
Some vehicles have over 300 on-board computers, silently collecting information about you in your daily life… This makes them like a “smartphone on wheels”.
Indeed, your car manufacturer may be continuously monitoring, collecting, recording and selling valuable data about you and your driving habits, without you even knowing about it.
While the convenience of in-vehicle navigation, and local Internet alerts, such as weather and traffic, provide great convenience, they also introduce privacy issues and vulnerabilities you may not be aware of.
This includes:
- GPS location tracking
- Driving habits (speed, braking patterns, acceleration)
- Entertainment system usage
- Phone call logs and contacts (when paired with Bluetooth)
- Maintenance needs and vehicle diagnostics
While this data can improve vehicle performance and safety, it also creates a detailed profile of your movements and behaviors[1]. Automakers and third parties can potentially access this information, raising serious privacy concerns.
To learn whether your vehicle is like a “smartphone on wheels” and what you can do to protect your data, visit Privacy4Cars.com and request a free “vehicle privacy report” just by entering your vehicle identification number (VIN).
If your vehicle is stolen, such as in a relay attack, your on-vehicle personal data may be compromised.
A Faraday Cage Helps Secure Your Car From Theft
A Faraday cage, or “Faraday box”, can help you protect your vehicle’s remote keyless entry system from a relay attack…
Named after the physicist Michael Faraday, these special containers are designed to block electromagnetic signals.
If you’re not familiar with the concept of a Faraday cage, you’re probably already benefiting from how a Faraday cage works if you own a microwave oven… The Faraday shield inside your microwave protects you from exposure to microwave radiation.1
A Faraday cage is constructed with metallic mesh or fabric that blocks incoming and outgoing radio frequency signals. The same material that prevents your microwave from causing you injury when heating up your coffee in the morning also protects your car key fob from communicating with your vehicle when it’s not in use.
Summary
You can significantly reduce the risk of falling victim to a relay attack – while keeping your vehicle secure – by using a Faraday box.
While a Faraday box may seem like an unnecessary expense, at less than $50.00, it’s a small price to pay for added peace of mind, and the protection of your belongings, vehicle and personal data.
Consider it an essential part of your personal cybersecurity budget, much like a home firewall, antivirus software for your computer or a home security system.
As technology evolves, so do the methods used by automotive thieves… Indeed, it’s like a game of whack-a-mole…
Stay informed about the latest security threats and countermeasures… And don’t forget to take your key fob out of the microwave before you use it!
