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An investigation sows confusion over the safety of many electric cars. 477 vehicles tested out of 500 would be very vulnerable to theft, all without any break-ins. The electronic locking system is in question.
On the images of a video surveillance camera, two men break into a courtyard of a house in Germany. They brandish an antenna in the garage, and can board a luxury vehicle, without being worried. The owner, Birgit Hendel, is flabbergasted. His car is equipped with a starting system with a contactless key. His signal was duplicated by the criminals.
“They have in their hands relays, antennas, which allow them to pick up the signal from the key which is inside the house. Whoever is in the car has a receiver, which causes the car key to have the impression that the key is next to her”, explains Benoît Grunemwald, cybersecurity expert at ESET. Faced with this security flaw, some brands have found a solution. “Some manufacturers put systems that instead of simply checking the presence of the key, check the time the key takes to respond”, continues the expert. However, the security system is not widespread. According to a recent study, only one in 20 vehicles is properly protected.