Sometimes it would seem like that would be better. Even low tech methods like a good steering wheel lock can help sometimes. Unfortunately, it's always going to be a game of cat and mouse between bad actors and car manufacturers. As security in cars evolve, bad actors always catch up and find the weaknesses. It would seem a lot of the systems in vehicles have not been designed with full priority on security. Priority on things like cost, design complexity, computer hardware requirements have allowed for weak security systems in vehicles. Best is still to employ a layered security approach and to reduce the attack surface available to bad actors.
It wasn't that long ago when they made keys with added electronics to prevent hot wiring. I'm not sure why these FOB things would be better than that. Anytime you add wireless features to something, you lower your security. It's like wired networks were more secure. There are videos on how to steal someone's WiFi which creep me out. Someone a mile away with an old satellite dish can hack into your WiFi, and the password doesn't slow them down. I always had a suspicion that someone was hacking into our DSL. It's slow enough without someone watching 4k video on it or something. Although, it might have been just the router. When I switched to 5G Internet, the problem seemed to go away.
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So, THANK YOU so much to @FrakkingCreations, I took all the creative solutions on-board and came-up with an alternative that suited me a wee bit better. Before I proceed, I can 100% confirm what I'm about to describe, works for me and my car (and keyless entry). First I ordered (thru Amaz0n of course) the infamous pocket "Raw pre-rolled 100x" box as that is nice, excellent choice for mobility. Rather than getting creative with cardboard, as outlined in one of my previous comments below, I opted to place the copper-tape on the outside. For copper-tape i opted for, hold onto your hats, so-called snale-tape (Slakken-tape, or, anti-slak tape in the Netherlands, sold by Praxis) It is relatively affordable (12,99 per 4 meter roll), thin but sturdy enough that is does not tear that easily. And not too thick that will cut your fingers. I applied 1x (ONE!) layer of that tape onto the pocket "Raw pre-rolled 100x" box, making sure there would be overlaps of the tape, on-top of the lid but also under the lid of the lid itself. So conductively, from top to bottom, one solid copper shield. As Mr. Faraday intended back in his days. I walked-up to the car and low-and-behold, the keyless entry was completely shielded! Even when I touched the (coppered) "Raw pre-rolled 100x" to the (metal) door-handle. N O T H I N G! So, effective shielding by only 1x layer! As the roll has 4 meters, I had even more (copper) material left-over to completely(!) do the same to the larger brass (aka yellow copper), covering the lid (with overlaps, including the rim on the inside), and the box. On, again, the outside. When finished doing that, I still had about 20cm material left-over haha. So, again, walked-up to the car, same result! Effectively blocking the keyless entry system. Long story but in short, for me it works with one layer of the aforementioned tape. Of course, results may vary. Possibly due to (e.g) the frequencies that my key-fob uses in my county, which may vary, country to country, region to region. (and brand & model of the car). I will take the suggestions from @FrakkingCreations to make my solutions look more pretty (other then very shinny copper now). I would like to wholeheartedly thank @FrakkingCreations for the inspiration & suggestions, it was a lot of fun and learned how we can beat the keyless car theft relay attacks by a rather simple but very effective DIY.
Would it not be easier to add the (copper-tape) shielding to the outside of your (metal) pocket "Raw pre-rolled 100x" and once determined it sufficiently blocks the FOB on the inside, tape it up with (e.g) duct tape? (available in different colours nowadays..). That way you keep plenty of room on the inside for your FOB, do not have to use cardboard (on the inside) and can keep adding-on layers of copper-tape until sufficient shielding has been achieved. (and than add a layer of duct tape for protection & aesthetics). The only "challenge" would be the lid of the case but that can be overcome by following your instructions for that particular case. BTW, the "Mission Darkness Faraday Bag Testing App" does not seem to be available (anymore?) in the iOS appstore? (or not in the regions outside US/Canada) Thank you so much for your creative video's, very smart and thought-out! If this would be available on a webshop, I would buy it instantly! (I have neuropathy due to chemo's so building it according to your plan would be nearly impossible for me)
Thanks for commenting. We always strive to make useful videos for our viewers. To answer your question. While putting the shielding inside does reduce the amount of space available in the metal box, it does make for a cleaner look. You won't be able to get a nice clean look by wrapping the box in duct tape. In my opinion, the edges of the lid and the bottom of the box around edges and corners would be hard to make look nice. In the end, it is up to the user. If you don't mind the look and want ease of shielding the box, you can just do what you mentioned and shield the outside and then cover with duct tape. Sorry it isn't easier to make for your situation. I checked for the Mission Darkness iOS app and can't seem to find it anymore. Not sure why. The Android one is still there though.
@@FrakkingCreations Thanks for the response, much appreciated! I do agree the looks of your version does look splendid, and would not stand-out even at a second glance. And indeed, my approach will have most certainly challenges in the area's you outline above, I wholeheartedly agree with you on that. I first tried a short-cut, buying a (wee bit ancient) copper box, but that did not do much (in the blocking arena) so I believe it is not copper but brass instead. I'm waiting on the copper tape and the (more handsome) box you depicted in your video, to re-attempt your guidelines & findings. As for the wrapping, duct tape is one direction, next to vinyl wrapping (e.g. carbon-look) or even heat-shrink. It is indeed up to me to make such decisions, but in the end your video's on this subject were to me truly inspirational to make my own solution, and thank you so much for that!
As for the Mission Darkness iOS app, I will ask the publisher about that. If they have anything noteworthy, I will place it down here as another comment.
You're welcome. One thing I just thought of is rubber coating. You can get rubberized coatings that come in a paint can. These are usually meant to coat metal for protection. Maybe something like this would work on top of outside shielding and be very easy to apply... Just dip or brush on. One note of caution is to ensure the coating is safe for skin contact and also not toxic.
Thanks for your comment. It is easier to deactivate the FOB and it would save battery life. Just depends if your particular FOB has that feature or not. Alternatively, you could just remove the battery but that would add a little inconvenience. Also, having to activate and deactivate sort of defeats the purpose of keyless entry where you are not supposed to need to touch the remote in your pocket. Some vehicle manufacturers have features to turn the FOB off where if the remote is not in motion for a set period it will turn into standby. But this can still be an issue when out and about and you are walking around a mall, for example. Because the FOB is in motion it doesn't turn off. Crooks can use the same relay attack systems and follow behind you to transmit your FOB signal to another crook at the car to open the doors and start it. Other manufacturers have a button sequence you press on the FOB to deactivate the remote. Press any button on the FOB to reactivate. Some use the Lock button to deactivate. Not sure if there are any hacks where crooks are able to capture or decode the Lock signal that is sent out when you press it. Then they unlock the vehicle using the captured signal or decoded signal.
Thanks for the comment. I believe that if anyone is going to make a faraday cage then it should be done right or it won't do what it was created to do. Additionally, it also takes a lot of work to make a cage that is the size of a small box and one that looks like the original box at the end. Of course, one could also purchase a faraday bag instead of going through all this trouble. Just remember to keep testing the faraday bag regularly as I have had ones that stopped working after some time. As for a purchasable pocket sized faraday box that you can take around with you, I haven't seen anyone sell one yet. I also have a video for making faraday bags if a pocket sized faraday box is too difficult or troublesome to make. Also if interested in a larger book sized faraday box, I also have a video on that on our channel. Cheers!
Without testing it, I can't say. There is a potential it could work but any small opening could leak signals. Best to test and add additional shielding if it is leaking RF signals from some areas.
@Hifin Sword you might also want to test right next to the vehicle too because relay attacks can also happen when you are out and away from home. In this scenario someone can walk behind you and relay your key FOB signal to the thief next to your vehicle. For example: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bXfp8F4J2eI.html
Some manufacturers have done this. For example, for Mercedes, you double click the Lock button and the FOB turns off. Press any button to turn back on. What we don't know is if the transmitted Lock signal from the FOB, when doing this, can be captured or decoded to be used to unlock and start the vehicle. A method may not exist yet but as we see nowadays, it could just be a matter of time.
Quite possible. You'll have to go with what works best for you. Before I made this I looked online for pocket faraday boxes and did find some. When I read the reviews, some people said they don't always work and depends on how you position the key FOB inside the box. So I decided to make my own, hence this video was also created.
Even if you do make a Faraday cage that protects your devices, you are still missing one key essential item that you will never get to make them truly worth investing time and money into. Preppers can't think far enough outside the box to realize what it is they are missing.
I am in the process of making people pay for the information I know. If you can think far enough outside the box you will understand what is missing that you can never get.@@FrakkingCreations
Similar to regular tin cans with lids, if not sealed properly it will leak signals from the FOB. With aluminum beverage cans you would have to cut the unopened lid off in a way that you can later close tightly to prevent leakage of signal. Also because the aluminum is thin, it may also need additional shielding put in. Additionaly, because aluminum likes to form an oxide coating on its bare surface it would prevent the lid and body from having electrical conductivity between each other. This is needed to maintain the faraday cage effect.
There really isn't much security in existing car technology. It really does need to be improved by a large factor because bad actors have caught up with the existing tech. Plus they don't need much knowledge to steal vehicles nowadays, just readily available tools that can be bought online.
