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Automobile remote keyless entry systems (RKE) were introduced in the 1980s. They've proved to be a big hit, making it easier for the grocery-laden to unlock their cars and sparing many of the terminally forgetful from finding they've left their keys in the ignitions of their now-locked vehicles or their purses on the seats of same. The earliest RKE systems were quite vulnerable to the sort of attack that was described in warning e-mails widely spread via the Internet. Their RF transmitters (usually built into key fobs) sent unique identifying codes that could be picked off by 'code grabbers,' devices that recorded the codes sent out when drivers pushed buttons on their remote key fobs to lock or unlock their cars: However, times change and technology advances. In response to the fixed code security weakness, automakers shifted from RKEs with fixed codes to systems employing rolling random codes. These codes change every time a given RKE system is used to lock or unlock car doors and thus rendered the earlier 'code grabbers' ineffective. That form of more robust code system became the industry standard for remote keyless entry systems in the mid-1990s, so automobiles newer than that are not vulnerable to being quickly and easily opened by criminals armed with the first generation of code grabbers. It is theoretically possible for a thief armed with the right technology and the ability to manipulate it correctly to snatch a modern keycode from the air and use it to enter a vehicle. However, it's unclear how many (if any) crooks have managed to overcome the issues of complexity and time involved in the process to use it as a practical means of stealing from cars. If the scheme requires would-be thieves to have specialized knowledge and equipment and spend hours (or more) crunching data and replicating a device to produce a correct entry code, its application to boosting valuables from cars in parking lots would be rather limited. As Microchip Technology, the manufacturer of KEELOQ brand RKE systems, noted of this possibility: So far we haven't encountered any documented cases of items being stolen from locked cars via entry gained through the use of code grabbers, much less evidence that it's a widespread form of theft. There have been a few reported incidents of thieves' managing to gain entry to locked vehicles through the apparent use of some form of electronic device, but the specific nature of those devices has yet to be determined. In some similar cases it has been speculated that thieves who have been stealing purses and other valuables from parked vehicles have been using a device that blocks remote keyless signals and thus prevents car doors from locking (rather than using a device that emulates remote keyless signals to open locked doors). In 2016, researchers theorized some makes and models were potentially vulnerable to such an attack, but again there was little to indicate that cars are routinely (or even rarely) stolen in such a fashion: For the most part, any efforts by car thieves to steal vehicles by exploiting RKE systems have likely been supplanted by a much easier method, that of using boosting devices to relay the RKE signals from far enough away that the car's owner is unaware of it: The following demonstration video demonstrates this technique in action: One of the versions of this warning circulated in 2008 contained the contact information for Const. Wally Henry, an RCMP officer from Sherwood Park, Alberta. Henry disclaimed the story being spread in his name, saying in his voice mail message to those who telephoned, If your call is concerning an e-mail with my name attached to it, please be advised that the information in that e-mail is false, and please do not disseminate it any further.
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