Tesla’s may be fast and they may be the latest must-have for select car enthusiasts but they suffer from many of the same security vulnerabilities of other modern cars, particularly regarding their key fobs.
A video out of the UK has made this abundantly clear as a pair of thieves managed to steal a Tesla Model S with nothing but a tablet and a smartphone. Unfortunately for them, they were caught on security camera.
The clip shows one of the thieves walking back and forth along the front of the house with a tablet to intercept the frequency used by the Tesla’s key fob. Once this frequency was captured, it was relayed to the smartphone of the second thief who was standing next to the Tesla’s door. Put simply, the Tesla was fooled into thinking the key fob was nearby.
With convenience comes certain security risks.
With access to the car, the thieves proceeded to disable the remote access to the car meaning Tesla cannot track it. This was likely done by removing the car’s SIM or by using a battery-powered device to block internet access in the vehicle. After finally working out how to disconnect the charger, the thieves were able to drive away in silence.
Tesla owners have a number of tools at their disposal which improve the security of their vehicles. One of this tools is a feature dubbed ‘PIN to drive’, which requires a driver to enter a PIN before the vehicle will turn on. Owners can also disable ‘passive entry’ which automatically opens the doors when the vehicle detects the owner approaching with the key fob.
For those who don’t own Tesla’s but do own vehicles with remote access, the easiest way to avoid having your car being stolen in this way is to keep the key fob in a faraday pouch when it’s not in use.