“A Londoner watched on CCTV as a thief approached his £40,000 car and drove away,” the report said. observer. “Manufacturers now claim they are being engaged in a high-tech 'arms race' with criminals.”
[H]i-tech devices disguised as handheld gaming consoles are being traded online for thousands of pounds and are being used by organized crime groups to imitate the electronic key of an Ioniq 5 to open doors and start the engine. The device, known as an “emulator,” works by intercepting signals from a car scanning for the presence of a legitimate key and sending back a signal to gain access to the car.
Hyundai said it is considering measures to “prioritize” the use of emulators. But it's not the only automaker whose vehicles appear to have vulnerabilities. Observer research has found Toyota, Lexus and Kia models are also being targeted… UK motorists now face rising numbers of thefts and rising insurance premiums …Car theft is at its highest level in a decade in the UK, with Wales increasing from 85,803 vehicles in the year to March 2012 to 130,270 in the year to March 2023. , an increase of over 50%. Part of the reason, experts say, is the rise of keyless entry.
Kia did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Toyota, which owns Lexus, said: “Toyota and Lexus are continually working to develop technology solutions to improve vehicle safety. The latest versions of many models include enhanced security hardware. “We've seen a significant decline in security since we introduced it.” Please be careful not to be robbed. We are currently developing a solution for older models. ”
Another common attack requires first infiltrating a vehicle, but then using the vehicle's onboard diagnostic port to program “a new key linked to the vehicle,” according to the article.
“Many owners of the Ioniq 5, which retails from around £42,000, now use steering locks to prevent theft.”