The Oil Drum | DrumBeat: June 27, 2008

236 comments on DrumBeat: June 27, 2008

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Ben on June 27, 2008 - 3:57pm

How long until hybrids become a hot car to steal?

(My guess is quite a while; anyone who will steal cars won't have any qualms about stealing gasoline, too)

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karlof1 on June 27, 2008 - 4:27pm

The Prius's security and key systems make it almost impossible to steal, although I can't comment on other hybrids. (Nothing is impossible, thus the qualifier.)

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CSS on June 27, 2008 - 5:22pm

Heh,

I just remarked to my son that it's a good thing one fob stays in his pocket and the other in my purse - no chance of leaving one in our Prius for a thief to use.

---Love that car!

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phreephallin on June 27, 2008 - 5:38pm

They don't need your fob, just the signals that it emits...this is a story from last summer.

Prius Security System Cracked

A talk given at the computer security conference, CRYPTO 2007, explained how the key-fob system installed on the Toyota Prius has been cracked. The KeeLoq auto anti-theft cipher is used in common devices made by Microchip Technology Inc, which are also used by Chrysler, Daewoo, Fiat, General Motors, Honda, Volvo, Volkswagen, and Jaguar.

The attack requires that the thief gets within range of your RFID keyfob, in order to break the encryption. This could mean stealing your keys, or just sitting next to you in a cafe with a laptop.

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CSS on June 27, 2008 - 6:36pm

The attack requires that the thief gets within range of your RFID keyfob, in order to break the encryption. This could mean stealing your keys, or just sitting next to you in a cafe with a laptop.

Wow! Thanks for this info! I think the range is 14'. I'll tell my son not to get within 14' of anyone with a laptop that could know he drives a Prius.

I guess we'd better not be so complacent as gas prices get higher. Or just let the anti-hybrid idiots foam on so the dummies don't want them.

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AlanfromBigEasy on June 27, 2008 - 7:54pm

I have an "unusual" anti-theft device. My 1982 240D has a manual transmission. Diesels are not "cool" and there is this vague issue about being hard to start (and far fewer places to refuel). And most thieves do not know how to drive a manual transmission.

All well & good, this drops me down the list. The kicker is that reverse is "unusual" (up and to the left in an "L" pattern) and I took off the OEM shift knob and put in a wooden shift knob (no pattern on top). And I parallel park.

If some theft tries, and hotwires the ignition (no glow delay), gets the car going , he is going to have a time finding reverse (and will likely put the car into 2nd or 3rd instead of first).

Best Hopes for Low Tech solutions,

Alan

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Rethin on June 27, 2008 - 10:34pm

And if some thief does get it going, you could just walk after him.

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tompaah7503 on June 28, 2008 - 6:20pm

Alan, you should consider switching to the earlier starting system, known as the infamous gorilla knob. Lol, there's not a single person except pre-1976 Mercedes owners that know how to get these cars started. Add to that a worn engine with low compression and our cold climate here in Scandinavia, there's no way anyone is ever going to drive off with my old Benz :D

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TechGuy on June 27, 2008 - 6:55pm

Car hijacking is one simple solution. Or they can Use a tow truck to move hybrids to undisclosed location. Strip it for parts. The expensive Lithium-Ion batteries should sell for a premium. If there is a way to profit from stealing these cars, Theives will figure out a way to steal them.

There is a scene in the movie "Lord of war" (nicklas cage) where a huge miltary cargo plane is force to land in the middle of nowhere in Africa. With in hours a mob of people dismantle and haul all it away. All the parts ended up being sold for scrap metal or parts. I know its a movie, but its very likely close to the real world.

FWIW: The biggest threat in my opinion is home invasions. As unemployment soars, Home invasion will become the norm, because homes are easy targets. Theivess can tie up homeowners and torture them for information about where valuables are or pin numbers for ATMs. In the past thieves targeted businesses, but these days, Most have advanced surveillance systems and remote monitored alarm systems, and other countermeasures. Most homeowers can't afford these systems and services, so theives will prey on the easest targets. Home invasion is the rage among thieves in Argentina.

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Long Time Gone on June 27, 2008 - 8:45pm

The expensive Lithium-Ion batteries should sell for a premium. If there is a way to profit from stealing these cars, Theives will figure out a way to steal them.

Maybe in the future, but none of today's hybrids use Lithium-Ion batteries. They are all NiMH to my knowledge. And even though the theft rate of the Prius has been exceedingly low to date, I'd guess that may change somewhat with time.

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Catskill on June 27, 2008 - 11:38pm

I've told my girlfriend that living in a non-descript apartment among a row of other apartments which occupy a rather lousy looking one story brick building is a great security system.

I've made sure to keep a bunch of random stuff out front as well - a couple really rusty old bicycles, a square foot garden patch that from a distance just looks like it has been overwhelmed by weeds, a few pieces of drift wood picked up on a kayaking trip etc etc. I want to give any would be thieves the impression that I probably have less than they do. This is absolutely not the time to be flaunting how well you are doing - that's just foolish.

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elwoodelmore on June 28, 2008 - 8:46am

"....because homes are easy targets..."

maybe some homes, but how is a thief to know who has a .50 cal ? and furthermore, how is a thief to know who has cash and who is living on credit cards ?

i don't know how capable the average thief is of risk analysis.
i have observed that thieves don't like to steal anything associated with work, like a shovel for example. shovels cant be fenced for much $$. maybe we should be storing our wealth in shovels. not wheel barrows though, as they have at least one wheel.

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squidd on June 28, 2008 - 1:10pm

but how is a thief to know who has a .50 cal ? and furthermore, how is a thief to know who has cash and who is living on credit cards ?

they don't... unless they're organized... theives want the most return for the least effort... hence choosing theft as a means to aquire in the first place... but in the context presented here... more and more folks won't have much other choice...

so back to... how do they know... they don't... unless they cased the joint... got some inside info... it's a cost of doing business... sometimes the take is good... sometimes you get your brains blown out...

i actually got to watch this in real time recently... three kids hop the fence to the parking lot shortly after dark... they're trying door after door on the parked vehicles... byt the time the police arrived... they had split... but next day... cars in another section reported losses...

they were unlocked...

you can mitigate... but not prevent... guns will mitigate quite dramatically... but mot stop the theft attempt in the first place...

sort of like the whole pickle about end of cheap oil... regardless of cause... oil is going up... and doesn't look like it's going down... unlike the 80's where prudhoe and north shore were brought online... if there was a new reliable plentiful supply... it would be brought online... as it is... in all the possible scenarios... existing new alternate... if they were simple... it'd be done...

so the thief runs through the night... hoping yours truly is flush with cash and marketable valuables and they dont get their brains blown away...

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236 comments on DrumBeat: June 27, 2008

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