London: In a daring attempt, thieves stole an ultra-secure Tesla Model S electric car in London with a key fob attack in less than 30 seconds and the owner did not even get a clue.
The car, valued at over 90,000 pounds, was stolen using a keyless hack -- now being used frequently to steal vehicles -- but Tesla was an exception which has extra layers of security with "improved cryptography" key fob and an optional "PIN to Drive" feature.
If an owner activates the "PIN to Drive" function, anyone trying to steal the car will have to first know the PIN. It appears that the Tesla owner had not activated the "PIN to Drive" feature. According to The Verge, the camera installed in the driveway captured the theft.
"Using a tablet and a phone in tandem, the thieves eventually intercepted the frequency used by the Tesla owner's key fob, even though it was 'at the back of the house', according to the owner".
The thieves then relay that signal to the car, tricking it into thinking that the owner was using the key fob to get in and drive. In the video, one of the thieves is seen holding the key fob attack system before his accomplice reversed the Tesla and drove it away.
"One way to prevent thefts like these is to keep your key fob in a 'faraday pouch' when it's not in use so that the signal can't be intercepted in the first place", said the report.
