If you are wanting to protect your vehicle against keyless theft methods such as relay attack and key cloning, having an aftermarket immobiliser fitted is the best place to start. This page also applies to conventional keyed ignition vehicles (physically turning a key to start) as key cloning is still commonplace for the theft of such technology.

Modern vehicles come equipped with sophisticated alarms and immobilisers, however as soon as your vehicle key’s signal is present all that security is disarmed. The theft method known as relay attack allows thieves to pick up, transmit or ‘relay’ your vehicle key’s signal at an increased range, allowing them to gain entry, start and drive your vehicle away with relative ease.

Aftermarket immobilisers work independently from your vehicle’s security meaning they are not armed or disarmed via your vehicles original key. As such they are not affected by keyless theft methods such as relay attack and key cloning.

These modern immobilisers automatically arm via proximity using a small battery powered tag that you attach to your keys or carry on your person. The tag uses a Bluetooth low energy signal to wirelessly communicate with the immobiliser. When the vehicles ignition is switched off and the tag is out of range (5-10m) the immobiliser automatically arms. When the tag comes back into range the immobiliser automatically disarms, from a driver point of view you wouldn’t know anything is actually happening as this happens passively in the background. This process means your vehicle is always immobilised when it’s not in use. The automatic arming and disarming of the system also ensure minimal input from the driver resulting in a smooth and secure experience.

When a thief uses relay attack to transmit your keys signal to your vehicle, they are still able to gain entry but crucially they are not able to start the vehicle. This is due to the vehicle being in an immobilised state as your Bluetooth tag is out of range (as its most likely with you, inside your house). The same applies for key cloning, even with a cloned key thieves are able to gain entry but are unable to start the vehicle due to the immobiliser automatically arming once the driver or tag is out of range to the vehicle. This is how modern aftermarket immobilisers protect against keyless theft, by working independently from the vehicles factory security.

There are many variations of this concept using unique styles of tag and immobiliser technologies. What we have explained above is the basis of how a modern stand-alone proximity immobiliser operates which would be an effective way of preventing keyless theft. However just having a stand-alone immobiliser fitted does not protect against everything such as OBD attack or your vehicle being towed away. If your vehicle is ever stolen, hopefully you have a tracking system installed.

While an immobiliser should be your first line of defence against theft, a tracking system should be second, this is called layered security. Tracking systems are vitally important for the recovery of a stolen vehicle, and you should ideally have one fitted in the event your vehicle is ever stolen. If you have not got a tracking system fitted and your vehicle is stolen your very unlikely to see it again, this is because thieves often use cloned registration plates to run stolen vehicles through ANPR systems without being flagged. Normally these vehicles end up in chop shops or are shipped overseas never to be seen again. Therefore, we recommend fitting both a tracking system and immobiliser to your vehicle. The combination of a tracking system and automatic immobilisation is commonly referred to as a No Tag, No Start system.

These No Tag, No Start systems are your best defence especially against keyless theft. No Tag, No Start systems perform as mentioned above from an immobiliser point of view and also feature a tracking system in case of theft. However, these two components are linked, with the tracking unit being a telematics device we have the ability to communicate with the system, in particular the immobiliser. As we can now control the immobiliser via the tracking unit over the mobile network, we can send the system commands. Some systems will allow the customer to remotely immobilise their vehicles engine from their smartphone whilst also overriding the Bluetooth tag for extra security. You can learn more about these products by viewing their key features -

Meta Trak Deadlock / SmarTrack iMOB.

The main remaining threat is OBD Attack. You can protect against it using an OBD port immobiliser, to read more about this new theft method click here.

Alternatively, you can go straight to a product that protects against everything mentioned on this page including Relay Attack, OBD Attack and Key Cloning and more here.