Technical advancement in car theft

Scientific and technological progress is reflected not only in the field of theft protection, but also in the field of defeating that protection. Every year 5–7 new car alarms, immobilizers and other security devices appear on the market. However, roughly six months later criminals can break them using electronic theft tools.

The history of such devices begins around the same time the first alarms appeared. Rapid development of the security device market came in the early 1990s. It was then that the first simple alarms began to appear, along with the first basic devices for breaking them. At the same time, the very algorithm of car theft changed fundamentally, and the activity took on an increasingly intellectual character.

Now, alongside commonplace robbery, the first successful attempts were made to crack the transmit code of primitive alarms. The transmit code of these devices was so simple that it could be broken by simple trial, using micro switches on an identical key fob.

As alarms developed, the transmit code became more complex and longer, and the hacking devices became more sophisticated.

The first scanners appeared — devices that automatically brute-force the code by iterating through all possible combinations.

Then alarms with rolling (dynamic) codes appeared, meaning the signal they send is not constant but changes from time to time. The command from the key fob is generated based on a fixed part of the code — a 28-bit serial number — a changing part — a 64-bit key — and a 16-bit synchronization counter. Thus, billions of never-repeating digital combinations are produced.

Of course, it is impossible to crack such an alarm using brute-force code guessing, so thieves developed an algorithmic code-grabber. This device records everything transmitted over the air and recognizes the individual secret encryption key. In addition, the receiver unit of a rolling-code system calculates 10–15 commands ahead, and that is quite enough to break the devices.

So, car alarms that protect a vehicle 100% do not, and unfortunately cannot, exist. Today up to 95% of all protective devices are vulnerable to hacking. The only advice professionals give in this case is a comprehensive approach to theft protection. A good complement to an alarm is an immobilizer, a hood lock and a steering column lock.

Autostudio – installation of anti-theft equipment.