Bad news, latest models You are here they are not spared from thieves.
How is that? Well, these others use techniquerelay attack to fool your car by picking up the signal from yours key or yours smartphone (if you use the Tesla app) even if you are tens of meters away. Then they transmit that signal to your box nicely parked in front of your house and there, surprise, the car thinks you are nearby with the key and presto, it unlocks in less than two hours.
So this type of attack is not a new technology Ultra widebandthat should have been prevented… But that was without counting the Chinese researchers from GoGoByte being able to hack Tesla Model 3 brand new with radio equipment for under $100. They managed to unlock the car and even start it in a few seconds, up to a distance of 5 meters. You can see a demo of the attack on the video in a Wired article.
However, Tesla praised the merits of Ultra-Wideband, which should prevent these relay attacks thanks to the ultra-precise measurement of the distance between the key and the car, but apparently, it is not ready yet… And when researchers reported the bug, Tesla responded something like ” Yes, we are still working on improving reliability. For now, it’s normal that it doesn’t work“. It’s not serious.
The only solution to protect yourself from this is to have a junk crate that no one wants to steal, or to activate a boot authorization PIN code (disabled by default). To enable it, tap “Controls” > “Security” > “Drive PIN”. You will then be asked to create your 4-digit verification code. Confirm and don’t forget!
Of course, Tesla is not the only manufacturer that failed as other brands have also adopted Ultra-Wideband and are therefore equally vulnerable to relay attacks. After that, we mustn’t forget that thanks to the integrated GPS, Teslas are statistically less stolen than other cars even though certain mafia networks still target them for spare parts.
In the meantime, be vigilant and take the keys as far away from the vehicle as possible in the evening instead of leaving them at the entrance to the house. You can even opt for a small box to serve as Faraday cage (affiliate link)just to block the waves from the key.