sparkie001

I thought surely there would be a more recent thread about this but all I could find is one from 2013. Times have changed.

Locked cars are being "broken into" in my neighborhood, 4 last night, without keys or breaking glass. I don't know the makes and models but it got wondering if my 2010 IS250 is vulnerable.

The keyless entry system (at least in my IS) sends out a 125kHz beacon 4x a second and waits for the fob to respond. When the fob is close enough to "hear" this, it responds on 315 MHz it turns on the outside rear view mirror lights and then the car is unlocked when you touch the inside of a door handle.

1st Scenario: The thieves are using RF amplifiers to send the 125kHz signal further, in order to reach your key fob inside the house so that it responds and they can unlock the door.
2nd Scenario: If the key fob is too far from the car, say a shopper in a mall vs the parking lot, they use two devices to amplify both the 125kHz and 315MHz signals each way, in order to gain access.
There is no decrypting involved. Only extending the range of the existing systems. Commonly referred to as a Relay Attack Device or Relay Attack Unit.

So my question is: Is this happening to any Lexus owners? Thanks.

BTW one solution is to put the fob in a "Faraday Cage", i.e. a metal box like an Altoids can, when not in use, or use one of the RFID blocking pouches sold online.

tex2670

And how do you know about all these "locked" cars being entered without broken glass, but don't know makes and models?

sparkie001

From posts by my neighbors on nextdoor.com

sparkie001

A couple examples if you're looking for more info, except of course the non-techy reporters got it wrong in some cases. The info is readily available on the internet so I'm not giving away any secrets...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...reau/95085746/


https://eprint.iacr.org/2010/332.pdf

http://makezine.com/2015/08/14/block...-faraday-cage/

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/05/c...0-of-hardware/

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/s...c-thieves.html

Vitveet

I tend not to worry about problems or things I can't control. If thieves are that good and can break into my car and not be caught, more power to then.... garantee they won't take anything valuable in their. If the steal the car, that's what I pay insurance for.
Way on Earth I'm walking around putting my fob in an Altoids tin can hoping to prevent thieves from picking me off....😏

V.

sparkie001

Don't forget there's usually a deductible. And you don't get full value for a replacement car. You don't walk around with an Altoids can. You put it on your nightstand.

sparkie001

Nice to know that the 3rd gen has a battery saving function on the fob. I have a 2nd gen. The only real battery saving function is for the vehicle battery. The beacon interval slows down after 10 days, even more after 15 days, and turns off after 30 days per the service manual.

Thanks

sparkie001

Thanks but it's much easier just to drop the fob into the Altoids box than to remove the battery each night, which would get old quickly <G>.

I'm just asking if anyone has had their car "broken into" without damage, which would possibly indicate that this relay attack method works on a Lexus IS, (probably) and trying to warn other owners of the problem. Six people in my neighborhood have now reported the break-ins. And that's just the people that participate on nextdoor.com

Thanks all...

LOWFAST

Same thing here, we were robbed (took $1300 in tools) from our garage about a month ago, "broke" into locked cars, no glass or other damage (no signs of forced entry), took garage door openers and let themselves in and proceeded to go shopping in my garage. They were as bold to open the door to the house (which is squeeky) it woke my wife who woke me. They were scared off when they heard me walking around up stairs grabbing a "defensive tool". They got into my Ram, not the ISF, also an RX and new Infinity across the street and a Chevy truck down the road a bit. Seems locking your cars no longer means jack *****.

Stormwind

I wonder how the car makes are going to fix this vulnerability?

sparkie001

A local TV station interviewed one of the victims and made it their "exclusive" <G> lead story. Except that they got some of the technical parts wrong as usual.

riredale

Nothing is completely impervious, but there are more-important things to think about, relatively speaking. And Oregon, where I live, is a concealed-carry state, if you catch my drift.

Same thing goes for our home. It would be easy to break into, but I don't think you'd really want to.

tex2670

"Tune in at 11"? Wow--must be a real breaking story, and not a ratings grabber at all. [yawn]