Relay Attack - can we mitigate the risk

[Mosey]

Lately I have read a lot about relay attacks and how most push button start vehicles can be compromised. This has lead me to wonder if there is a simple way to immobilize the truck without affecting the rest of the electronics. Would a simple hidden button that breaks a critical complement circuit from operating, such as the fuel pump or other component? I realize you can put your key fob in a faraday cage, but that is not practical, IMO.

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[Old Bear]

Actually a Faraday cage is very practical. I have this Faraday box on my mantle where I keep the rest of the vehicle keys. Both fobs for the F150 easily fit in it. It looks very "in place" on the mantle. I carry this Faraday bag in the truck for those times I'm traveling and stopping at hotels and such. And protecting against relay theft is only half of the reason. My truck sits close enough to my house that it could pick up a signal from the fob and not properly shut down all of the electronics. As we know, that can lead to a ton of battery issues. With the fobs tucked away electronically out of sight, that won't happen.
There are a lot of threads on here about various thoughts on kill switches of one sort or another. The last thing I want to do on my Powerboost is introduce a problem into those complicated modules. And of course the ultimate protection is simply good insurance. If someone wants it badly enough, they will get it. They may also get a high-speed delivery of small lead particles, but that is another conversation ...

 

[Highway 11]

So I've been down this road... installed a motion sensitive insert into my keyfobs to turn them off after a minute of inactivity. The keyfobs did not like them one bit and they would frequently not turn back on until I unlocked the truck and put the key in the cupholder. The manual advises that the fobs turn off after a minute of being stationary though I haven't seen anyone confirm that.

Relay attacks are falling out of favour with thieves who are now gravitating more towards OBD port attacks. Write down the VIN, come back with a key cut to enter the vehicle (or just pick the lock/drill the window if you don't have the VIN), program a blank key, and off you go.

You'll get plenty of mileage out of a OBD port lock and covering your VIN number. Up here, Lexus, Toyota, and Honda are bad for this kind of attack. 13th gen F-150s are bad (apparently there's a forced 40 minute lockout on 14th gen trucks which makes them frustrating to a thief looking for a quick job) In terms of pickup trucks, Rams are the hot commodity right now. Easy to disable the horn, and easy to program a key.

I sleep well at night because I live in a neighbourhood of Ram 1500s.

 

[Gros Ventre]

If you're on the road and staying in a hotel with a microwave... put the key fobs in the microwave. It's effectively a farraday cage.

 

[JExpedition07]

Feeling good about my transponder key lol. First layer of protection: nobody would ever waste their time trying to steal an STX, second layer is the old fashioned key ??

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