Be sure to reach the end of this article to see the full video!

Did you know that some thieves are stealing cars with the aid of hacking? If you have an electric key fob, your car could be in danger.

There’s no denying that electric car keys are convenient. You just press a button, and your car is locked or unlocked. But they have a major downside.

It turns out that they’re vulnerable to hacking. And if you have a car where the engine turns on without the insertion of a key, then you’re especially vulnerable.

More recent electric car fobs work by using a chip to send a code to their cars’ security systems to open/start the engine. Every car/electric fob pairing has a unique code. They should be impossible to hack. But one car security system, Megamos Crypto, is vulnerable.

Hackers are able to crack the code for cars that use this system in around half an hour. This is not quick, but all cars are routinely parked for periods of much longer than half an hour.

And older electric car fobs are even more vulnerable.

Hackers can use a cheap amplifier to detect and utilize an older key fob’s signals from a distance of 300 feet from the fob.

Luckily, there is an incredibly inexpensive way to prevent your car security system from being hacked. It’s foil.

Just buy some aluminum foil and wrap your key fob in the foil. Be sure to wrap the foil entirely around the keys! For added protection, you can also place your key fob in a foil-lined box. Alternatively, you can put the keys in the microwave (but obviously, don’t turn your microwave on when there are keys inside it.)

One YouTube user read this information and tried the aluminum foil trick for himself.

The video demonstrates that wrapping the key fob in foil undoubtedly works.

The YouTube video has also gained many comments confirming that wrapping keys in foil is effective:

Motor vehicle theft is still a major problem in the USA.

In fact, in 2018, motor vehicle theft cost Americans a combined $6 billion. Overall, 748,841 motor vehicles were stolen in the year 2018.

Luckily, the rate of motor vehicle theft is decreasing in America, and it has been since the year 1991.

In fact, between 2017 to 2018, there was a 3.1% decrease in motor vehicle theft.

However, some places see far more vehicle theft than others.

In 2018, the metropolitan areas with the highest rates of car theft were Albuquerque, New Mexico; Anchorage, Alaska; Bakersfield, California; Pueblo, Colorado; Modesto, California; Redding, California; Stockton-Lodi, California; Wichita, Kansas; Vallejo-Fairfield, California; and St. Joseph, Missouri/Kansas.

As the above list implies, the state in America with the highest number of motor vehicle thefts in 2018 was California. This was followed by Texas, Florida, Washington, Georgia, Colorado, Tennessee, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois. The state with the fewest motor vehicle thefts in 2018 was Vermont. This was followed by Maine, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Delaware, South Dakota, Rhode Island, North Dakota, Idaho and West Virginia.

One of the sad truths about crime is that it will always advance as technology advances.

It’s important to stay ahead of the criminals. Some people might think you’re a crazy conspiracy theorist for wrapping your key in foil. But surely safe is better than sorry?

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: TORQUE & TECH