Police admit they're 'stumped' by mystery car thefts

Jeff Rossen and Josh Davis TODA

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http://www.today.com/news/police-admit-theyre-stumped-mystery-car-thefts-6C10169993

How are these thieves exploiting automotive keyless entry?

June 5, 2013 By Mike Szczys 297 Comments

A new attack on automotive keyless entry systems is making headlines and we want to know how you think it’s being done. The Today Show reports that vehicles of different makes and models are being broken into using keyless entry on the passenger’s side of the car. It sounds like thieves steal items found inside rather than the vehicles themselves which makes these crimes distinctly different from the keyless ignition thefts of a year ago.

Ask Hackaday: Can you steal a car with a mini tesla coil?

June 9, 2013 By Brian Benchoff 34 Comments

emp

Last week we caught wind of a piece from the Today Show that shows very technically minded thieves stealing cars with a small device. Cops don’t know how they’re doing it, and of course the Today show (and the Hackaday comments) were full of speculation. The top three theories for how these thieves are unlocking car doors are jamming a keyless entry’s ‘lock signal’, a radio transmitter to send an ‘unlock’ code, or a small EMP device touched to the passenger side door to make it unlock.