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Thieves Use Proximity Key Fob Relays to Gain Access.

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Lunentucker

Lunentucker

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The good news for us....Jeep phone unlock is a cellular thing not BLE. low tech baby! 'Ancient' app to cloud to connected car over cellular....have fun jacking that.
True. Just shared that for broader knowledge.
It's scary how easy this stuff is to defeat. Developers likely relying on new technology to be secure for no other reason than it's new.

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11 pages and not a single mention of a steering wheel lock, simple and one more step a theif needs to defeat.
 

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True. Just shared that for broader knowledge.
It's scary how easy this stuff is to defeat. Developers likely relying on new technology to be secure for no other reason than it's new.

OP thanks so much for posting this thread. In the 90s I was a Navy FC. I worked on Fire Control radars. Since then I've been enterprise IT...wireless....security....so I know RF well. This just didn't occur to me. I really appreciate it. I hang my keys right next to my door. I ordered this simple box for 14$ right after I opened this thread. Sure I could wrap in foil but this matched my key cubby and was....14$. Lol. Tested it out on my wife's Acura with proximity locks. Box metal clasp TOUCHING the door handle..didn't open. Works. Thanks to them for expert foil coverage. Haha.


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I read yesterday that these always on Fobs have been a big "boon" for the car theft dirtbags. Car theft had been trending down and now it is way up.

I also read yesterday, that Ford was looking to come out with a security enhancement to their always on fobs, something along the lines of an off switch to disable all transmition until you need it. I didn't notice the date on the article, so don't know how far along they are and if the enhancement is being used now...

Why isn't Jeep doing a similar thing, and they should offer (free of charge RECALL) to swap the "stupid"-Fobs we have now with a security-enhanced design!

Oh, I guess the Stupid-fob we have now is just a "Jeep-thing" 😉 to go along with None-locking hood and None-locking gas cap. Well, at least they gave us a heated steering wheel, that is way more important! -LOL.
 

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Oh, I guess the Stupid-fob we have now is just a "Jeep-thing" 😉 to go along with None-locking hood and None-locking gas cap. Well, at least they gave us a heated steering wheel, that is way more important! -LOL.
I don't want a locking gas cap! I'd rather they get it the easy way than do what most thieves do today - knock a hole in the tank.
Yes, people have gone to their garages or parking spots not far from here to smell gas, and see a bit on the ground, only to find they have to be towed because their tank no longer will hold fuel.
They WILL get it, one way or another.
There are also ways to open "locking" hoods. I worked where we towed and impounded cars, often without keys. If I want in, I will get in.
Again, they WILL get in.......... how much damage they do in the process is up to you.
I can open most doors without a key, trunks, hoods, and although I haven't spent the time to figure it out, up through the 1990s, I could start a lot of engines without keys.

I don't give a rip about a locking hood - if I want it to lock - I WILL CHOOSE how I want it locked.
(not sure why I'd want it locked, but some do so there must be some reason they have for locking it)

I'd rather not lock my fuel cap - 70 bucks in gas, or a tank replacement?
Frankly, I'm thinking of removing the factory locking cap from my SX4 - good luck finding a replacement tank for that car.
 

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I don't want a locking gas cap! I'd rather they get it the easy way than do what most thieves do today - knock a hole in the tank.
Yes, people have gone to their garages or parking spots not far from here to smell gas, and see a bit on the ground, only to find they have to be towed because their tank no longer will hold fuel.
They WILL get it, one way or another.
There are also ways to open "locking" hoods. I worked where we towed and impounded cars, often without keys. If I want in, I will get in.
Again, they WILL get in.......... how much damage they do in the process is up to you.
I can open most doors without a key, trunks, hoods, and although I haven't spent the time to figure it out, up through the 1990s, I could start a lot of engines without keys.

I don't give a rip about a locking hood - if I want it to lock - I WILL CHOOSE how I want it locked.
(not sure why I'd want it locked, but some do so there must be some reason they have for locking it)

I'd rather not lock my fuel cap - 70 bucks in gas, or a tank replacement?
Frankly, I'm thinking of removing the factory locking cap from my SX4 - good luck finding a replacement tank for that car.
Not only that, but jeeps are nowhere near the only vehicles without locking gas caps. It's not a universal thing. Many vehicles don't have them.
 

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Not only that, but jeeps are nowhere near the only vehicles without locking gas caps. It's not a universal thing. Many vehicles don't have them.
That's exactly right.
 

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I read yesterday that these always on Fobs have been a big "boon" for the car theft dirtbags. Car theft had been trending down and now it is way up.

I also read yesterday, that Ford was looking to come out with a security enhancement to their always on fobs, something along the lines of an off switch to disable all transmition until you need it. I didn't notice the date on the article, so don't know how far along they are and if the enhancement is being used now...

Why isn't Jeep doing a similar thing, and they should offer (free of charge RECALL) to swap the "stupid"-Fobs we have now with a security-enhanced design!

Oh, I guess the Stupid-fob we have now is just a "Jeep-thing" 😉 to go along with None-locking hood and None-locking gas cap. Well, at least they gave us a heated steering wheel, that is way more important! -LOL.
The fob thing isn't a jeep thing. This attack was not gladiator specific, it's just an attack possible on any vehicle with a proximity key or RF signal (so any remote key) Op even said so. Just a general warning. I know this is a huge issue with challengers and chargers, and the parent company to Jeep and Dodge were promising an update. I don't know if they ever completed it. Anyone with a remote is susceptible. It isn't new. The only newness is the proximity key, meaning it talks to the vehicle more often, giving more chances to snoop.

Jeeps definitely aren't the only things without locking gas caps. Hoods, maybe. Many fords don't either, for example.

If you want those things, you can buy them yourself, which definitely is a jeep thing. Everything is optional or a dealer accesory. Even if you can't get it at build time, you can still get them from the dealership, so what difference does it make? It's not standard because there are enough people who don't want it to be, and they can charge those who do extra, while the rest couldn't care less. Same with power windows and locks.
 
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The fob thing isn't a jeep thing. This attack was not gladiator specific, it's just an attack possible on any vehicle with a proximity key or RF signal (so any remote key) Op even said so. Just a general warning. Anyone with a remote is susceptible. It isn't new. The only newness is the proximity key, meaning it talks to the vehicle more often, giving more chances to snoop.

Jeeps definitely aren't the only things without locking gas caps. Hoods, maybe. Many fords don't either, for example.

If you want this things, you can buy them yourself, which definitely is a jeep thing. Everything is optional or a dealer accesory. Even if you can't get it at build time, you can still get them from the dealership, so what difference does it make? It's not standard because there are enough people who don't want it to be, and they can charge those who do extra, while the rest couldn't care less. Same with power windows and locks.
Nailed it. I don't want a locking gas cap - let those who do add it to the order or buy from one of the catalog places for a grossly inflated price LOL
I don't really need a locking hood - and those that are inside release aren't really "locked" as with a couple of tools in my pocket or a holster, I can defeat many of those "locked" hoods, which are really only inside release, not very locked. Cut cable, trim sheath, pliers or vice grips on cable, pull, hood released. You have to learn tricks when things like hood releases break and people ask for help opening their hood. At least the catalog accessory Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator hood locks are really locks and not just inside releases. If you can reach the cable, you can open the hood. Why, I dunno, unless to steal the battery? They don't use brass radiators so there's no scrap value under most hoods.

My wife went out with some of her friends and a sister Tuesday. She came back saying we needed to always lock my shop and the garage as they were talking of gas thefts, and not just a few. Apparently a neighborhood where they met had been hit - dozens of vehicles with the gas stolen (and damage done to get to it)
We normally secure things but she's really paranoid after that.
Maybe time to bolt the iron bars back on the garage windows. The guy who built the place had heavy iron bars bolted to the garage structure on the inside of each window - you might break the glass but you'd have to use your Jeep and winch to get the bars off and get in.
 

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I don't want a locking gas cap! I'd rather they get it the easy way than do what most thieves do today - knock a hole in the tank.
Yes, people have gone to their garages or parking spots not far from here to smell gas, and see a bit on the ground, only to find they have to be towed because their tank no longer will hold fuel.
They WILL get it, one way or another.
There are also ways to open "locking" hoods. I worked where we towed and impounded cars, often without keys. If I want in, I will get in.
Again, they WILL get in.......... how much damage they do in the process is up to you.
I can open most doors without a key, trunks, hoods, and although I haven't spent the time to figure it out, up through the 1990s, I could start a lot of engines without keys.

I don't give a rip about a locking hood - if I want it to lock - I WILL CHOOSE how I want it locked.
(not sure why I'd want it locked, but some do so there must be some reason they have for locking it)

I'd rather not lock my fuel cap - 70 bucks in gas, or a tank replacement?
Frankly, I'm thinking of removing the factory locking cap from my SX4 - good luck finding a replacement tank for that car.
So by your logic, you should be very happy they can now steel your Truck so easily with the Stupid-Fob implimentation. Obviously, I don't agree.

Of course a determined thief with enough skill and enough time can steal just about anything, it would be foolish however if we didn't try to stop the less skilled and less determined thief - which makes up most of the thief population..
 

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Not only that, but jeeps are nowhere near the only vehicles without locking gas caps. It's not a universal thing. Many vehicles don't have them.
My friend, the "jeep thing" was a joke, hahah, I thought I put a wink in there somewhere, if not many apologies! :).

Update, YES, i did put a wink in there! Whew!
 

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My friend, the "jeep thing" was a joke, hahah, I thought I put a wink in there somewhere, if not many apologies! :).
I know you think I'm a jeep fanboy. But I'm really a VW and Subaru fanboy who owns jeeps too haha. I just like overcomplicated unreliable things. Also a joke haha.
 

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Gas caps and hood locks aside, the primary issue now is if Jeep will fix the fob (like Ford as the article claimed is doing)...
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