New Victorian crime statistics have revealed car thefts have hit a 10 year high in Victoria. It seems some of the thieves are using the latest technology to target modern cars stealing them silently and without the need for a key.
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00:00I think it's probably a range of things.
00:04We're in hard times.
00:06It's an easy way of getting money.
00:07And as you pointed out, there are some fancy, expensive cars
00:10with high-tech equipment in them.
00:12That's very nice for someone in a quite short period of time.
00:15So I imagine temptation's increasing as well.
00:17Yeah, so what can you tell us about Bluetooth relay devices
00:21and how these are being used to steal the latest cars?
00:26They've been around a while,
00:29but we're seeing them used much more now.
00:31And possibly that's a reason for the uptick,
00:33that people are talking to each other and learning about it.
00:35The idea is some cars, you can get close to the car
00:38and use Bluetooth to unlock it.
00:40So it's sort of hand-free, which is really convenient.
00:42And as is often the case with convenient things,
00:44it can also be used for bad.
00:46So how a typical sort of relay attack
00:49or a man-in-the-middle attack would work is
00:51your keys would be in your house.
00:52So you'd think too far from the car to be able to unlock it.
00:55And the thieves would get a device
00:57with a very strong antenna
00:59and pick up the signal from your Bluetooth fob.
01:01And they would retransmit that
01:03with much more power to the car key, to the car door.
01:06So the car would think the key is standing right next to it.
01:08It would just relay messages
01:09backwards and forwards between them.
01:11So yeah, if you're relying on Bluetooth to unlock the car,
01:14then the crims can essentially pretend
01:16that you're standing right next to the car,
01:17even when you're asleep.
01:19And they just hit the button, the car starts.
01:22That's it.
01:23And so are these devices legal or not?
01:27Yeah, yeah.
01:27Because you just need basically a wireless.
01:30I'm sure the precise device they're using is illegal or banned,
01:33but it's very easy to make them.
01:35You just need a Bluetooth receiver and transmitter.
01:37And it's just a wireless thing, really.
01:39Even a wireless transmitter and receiver will do it.
01:41So it'd be very hard to block.
01:43Really, it's probably a lesson to us
01:45that we should be a little bit cautious
01:47about making things really convenient.
01:50Using Bluetooth to unlock your car sounds good,
01:52but I'm sure the ASIO doesn't use Bluetooth.
01:56So what's the best way to try to ensure thieves
02:00can't hijack your Bluetooth commands?
02:04Yeah, so if you already have a Bluetooth car,
02:06you basically don't want your key fob
02:08to be able to transmit anything.
02:09Some people try to block it in various ways.
02:12I've heard of people putting it in microwaves.
02:14Obviously, that has potential risks
02:17of things going wrong there
02:18if you're a bit absent-minded like me.
02:20But yeah, you wanna disable it as much as possible.
02:22I'd take the batteries out,
02:24but probably that's too much effort.
02:26What my students and I do sometimes
02:28is we just wrap lots of aluminium foil
02:29around Bluetooth transmitters
02:31and then test it by walking up to the car
02:33and making sure the car won't open.
02:36In the long run, though,
02:37I'd order something from online,
02:40something called a Faraday cage,
02:42a little case that you can put it inside.
02:44And when it's shut,
02:44it completely shields all transmissions off.
02:47And they're very cheap.
02:49And again, I'd test it by taking it up to the car
02:51and make sure it works.
02:52And these thieves also put a Wi-Fi blocker,
02:55in their story today on ABC Online,
02:58they put a Wi-Fi blocker
02:59on the security cameras on the home
03:02so that the footage was just blank.
03:04Is there any way to prevent that happening?
03:09Well, again, it's smart devices.
03:11We often say in the community
03:13that replace the word smart with the word risky.
03:17I've got a risky phone, a risky fridge,
03:21a risky nanny cam.
03:23So yeah, it's sort of the old Lupon,
03:26like the thing of the thieves going up
03:28and just spraying the cameras with a blow,
03:30you know, a paint spray device to block it out.
03:33Here, they walk in and they just jam the signal
03:35so the camera can't transmit.
03:37Really old school stuff would defend you against that.
03:39So if instead of just transmitting the picture,
03:42you had a slightly more expensive camera
03:44that also recorded it locally,
03:46then the jamming would only stop the image being sent,
03:49but it would still be on the camera,
03:50and of course that doesn't stop them
03:51finding and smashing the camera,
03:52but presumably it's now becoming quite hard to do that.
03:56And as always, just have multiple systems.
04:00So, you know, anything that a single thing can block
04:03and you've lost isn't a good security arrangement.
04:06You always want a plan B there as well to help you.
04:09Yeah, and can anyone do a Kyrgios?
04:11We had Nick Kyrgios when his car was stolen.
04:13He had an app on his phone
04:15and was able to control the speed of the car
04:18after it had been stolen.
04:20Oh, I've got to say, the community is,
04:23there's so much conversation about these remote control cars
04:25that can be used for bad.
04:26That's an example of them being used for good,
04:28which they scare me so much.
04:30Yeah, you can get angular mobilizers,
04:33which you can remotely activate,
04:34and that's not a bad idea.
04:35And you can put trackers on your phone.
04:37You could put an Apple sort of AirTag thing,
04:39though they're designed to reveal their presence
04:41after a short period,
04:42so that wouldn't work for a long time.
04:43But you can buy devices, you know, tracking devices
04:45and put them in the car.
04:46So there are technological things you can do
04:48if you wanted to play that game,
04:49but I'd more be inclined to go down the physical path,
04:52like just trying to do it
04:53that no matter how technically strong they are,
04:55they physically can't steal it.
04:57So keep it locked up in a garage,
04:59put an engine immobilizer in it,
05:01take off the distributor cap
05:04and take one of the wires inside with you,
05:06put one of those things you put on cars
05:08when they haven't paid their parking
05:10and they lock them down, that sort of thing.
05:12I'd rely on that as well.