In an irony worthy of the late lamented long faced high priestess of pop musical poetry Alanis Morrisettey herself, in-car technology was once seen as a HINDERANCE to car thieves!
Today, around 42% of car thefts in London are achieved by the simple expedient of hacking key-less car-unlocking and ignition systems using handheld devices bought online.
That’s according to shocking new figures unveiled by capital-based law enforcement provider MetPol.com, who report this week that car purloinage rose shockingly by almost 10% last year to a shocking almost 22,000 vehicles in a single year (2014).
Almost 20 vehicles every day got nicked using key-less-car-key nobbling techniques. It’s a low-risk high-return game, noted Detective Chief Superintendent Carl Busy of the Met’s crack Fob Crime team.
Villains know they can flog top motors for upwards of ten grand a pop, Busty revealed. And it’s not just cars they’re after. eTheft specialists like nothing better than breaking stolen vans into bits and packing them in containers for shipping overseas.
Top targets for keyhacking are Ford Transients, Ford Contents, and Mercedes Splinter vans, followed by BMWs and Land Ravers. Frustratingly, for every white van taken off Britain’s roads by the key hackers, another one is almost certain to appear.
With criminal nerds quick to crack each new digital security update, the best solution might be some form of manually operated security override function.
Perhaps a simple hard-format pocket-sized tool that owners can insert and rotate to activate their vehicles’ systems.
Just a thought.
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