Pretty much any radio wave system can be hacked. In the case of cars, it's pretty easy to do and nearly impossible to stop. That's the price of the gadgets we enjoy.

 

That's a very helpful (as well as alarming) article. For a technology like this, I would expect the vulnerability to exist for all models from a given manufacturer, but the article doesn't make it clear if they tested all or only some models.

Given the distances involved "one is meant to be held a few feet from the victim’s car, while the other is placed near the victim’s key fob," I'm surprised that this is more than a theoretical issue, as reported by journalist Nick Bilton. From his description, his kitchen must be very close to the street or sidewalk.

Last year I carefully measured the distance at which the keyless fob stops working at exactly 5 feet. Add just one more inch, and it stopped working. Our house sits back ~80 feet from the curb, and the car is inside a garage, so I'm not going to lose any sleep over this, but I can see where it would be a concern for someone in a denser urban environment, and when travelling and staying in a motel, I might consider putting the fob in a mini fridge or, if the room has one, a safe.

I just did some experiments:

— Bigelow tea canister: driver side attenuated to ~2 feet; passenger side <1 foot
— Lead lined film pouch (left over my silver film photography days: about the same as the tea canister
— 12" cookie tin: < 1 foot driver side; unusable passenger side
— Aluminum water bottle: unusable from closed end, about same as the cookie tin from the (plastic) stopper end
— Stainless steel thermos with plastic-lined metal cap: same as aluminum water bottle
— Stainless steel thermos with 3 layers aluminum foil under plastic-lined metal cap: unusable at any distance
— All steel, double walled coffee press: unusable at any distance

You can also buy a Fob Guard for $30 — probably the most effective solution (if you feel at risk), as even if you get out of the car, and an accomplice walks right by, the fob is always shielded.

Putting the fob in a refrigerator or freezer is a bad idea, since rapid temperature changes are bad for electronics.

 

Faraday boxes (google it) are another great solution for while its in your home.. essentially you take a box and wrap it in several layers of heavy duty foil and it blocks the signal to/from electronic devices.. including your cell phone.

 

The fob guard is a good idea. I also thought about the anti static bags that I get semiconductors in. I have a few, I'll try them out.

 

I can't be sure without trying it, but I'm under the impression from things I've read that removing the actual key from the fob disables the radio capabilities.

 

Just tested: the key has absolutely nothing to do with the transmitter in the fob.

The primary purpose of the key is to allow entry to the car if the battery in the fob dies. During delivery check, I was told that even if the battery is too weak to unlock the doors, it will still have enough reserve power for the red Start button to work if held next to it.