Originally Posted By: Garak
Originally Posted By: JamesBond
Haha! Standing by your car when it's 95 degrees out, unwrapping your key fob like a baked potato while the key dangles uselessly. The future is here!
This. My G37's fob allows keyless entry by touch (I don't use the remote; fob remains in my pocket) and push button start. The last thing I need is it wrapped in tinfoil. Now, the article kind of jumps around and isn't clear about everything. Is the author worried about the remote functions being intercepted when the remote part is used, or is he worried about RFID, or both?
My fob still will function without batteries. I can't unlock remotely, but I can sure as heck insert the fob into the dash and get my car going.
Those keyless entry systems work by always transmitting a short range signal. All the thieves do is amplify the signal. I'm not sure what equipment the thieves are using. Either they're capturing the signal to play it back later or they're just amplifying the signal so that the car thinks the remote is close by when it's actually in your home. That part opens the doors. The rfid part starts the car. Usually you don't need batteries for the rfid part to start the car, the batteries are just need to send the signal to car to open the doors and start the car. Even if your batteries die, there's usually a metal key you can use to get in and there's some other option to start the car with the key even if the battery is dead.
For me, I'm not worried about it because I'm in a parking lot and you'd have to figure out which unit I'm living in. Plus you'd have to get into the building to get into range of my key.