【1982 Archives】

A creepy device that made breaking into cars look easy982 Archivesback -- but this time it can also start your car.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), a nonprofit insurance industry organization, posted about the "mystery device" Wednesday on their blog.

The device appears to be the same one discovered back in 2013 that gave thieves access to cars and stumped law enforcement and security experts trying to figure out how it worked. After seeing recent reports of thieves getting into cars and driving away, the NICB reopened the inquiry.

This time the insurance group got their hands on one of the devices and were able to test it themselves. In the post they said they purchased a "Relay Attack" unit through a third-party security expert from an overseas company. It works on cars with a keyless remote and push-button ignition, such as a Prius.

The NICB then tried to break into different types of cars, including new and used models, SUVs, minivans and pickup trucks. Out of 35 cars tested, the NICB was able to open 19 and drive away in 18 of them. Out of those 18 cars they drove off in, the device was able to restart 12 cars after turning them off and on again.

These findings sound pretty discouraging for car owners. NICB president and CEO Joe Wehrle said in the post, "The scary part is that there’s no warning or explanation for the owner. Unless someone catches the crime on a security camera, there’s no way for the owner or the police to really know what happened."

The Relay Attack unit is apparently just one of many types of devices on sale that claim to use the technology to get into cars and start the ignition.

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As of now there's no good solution or prevention method to keep these devices out of thieves' hands, so motorists just have to be vigilant and careful with their remote keys and fobs. But with emerging car technology, the same features that make a car vulnerable might make it easier to track down -- albeit after the theft. There's hope yet.

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