Put your keys in the fridge to keep them safe from car thieves | Hacker News Reader

Put your keys in the fridge to keep them safe from car thieves

usatoday.com

31 pointsVarcht41 comments

It's beyond perplexing that the author of this article is completely aware that putting your key in a foil-lined bag is one option, yet they spend most of the article talking about refrigerators and microwaves, which are infinitely less convenient and even dangerous. I suppose the fridge gets more clicks, though?

It was also covered in the nytimes years ago:

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/style/keeping-your-car-sa...

It might provide some solace knowing the author probably didn't write the headline ...

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/lets-stop-arguing-with-he...

While I completely understand what the article is saying ... this is nothing short of a complete failure of journalistic integrity. Just like there's a "wall" between the news floor and the advertising department, it should be accepted practice for the author of a piece to have a hand in and approval of titles for their piece.

An editor writing a clickbaity headline is incentivized in the same way as the ad/business department to craft that title in a way to maximize engagement.

No solace. So it was Bob the editor who wrote the headline and not Steve the author? I guess that matters a lot to Steve, but to me, the reader, this is a meaningless, irrelevant distinction. Steve cares a lot about absolving Steve, I guess, but, like, this couldn't possibly matter any less to literally anybody else.

Agreed. Plus, condensation in the fridge can't be good for some keyless entry fobs. A small metal box should suffice.

There was an excellent report recently by the NICB here: https://youtu.be/EE5Ygm0aFMk

I'm surprised that auto manufacturers didn't anticipate off the shelf solutions for diagnostics and law enforcement making their way into the hands of thieves.

You can imagine creative uses of a drone and one of these keyfob relay in order to get as close to as many keyfobs as possible and breaking into a whole parking lot worth of luxury cars.

Why stop at one drone?

I just drive an old beater. Sure-fire deterrent to theft, and even having things stolen out of it.

It runs great, and I can fix it myself.

A vehicle is a way for me and my family to get from point A to point B.... I don't use it as a status symbol.

anecdata: years ago i lived in a shady neighborhood for 5 years to save money, never washed my car. girlfriend moves in and washes my car making it look almost new. stolen within 3 months.

Heck, in most of the US just driving a manual will stop 95% of thieves.

So you just claim that everyone who prefers a nice ride and newer technological assistants etc is using their car for status symbol.

I bet you also use only sandals to get from A to B? Because proper shoes would be a status symbol and no one wants to steal sandals.

I am sorry but newer cars beat old ones in many points. Sure there is a point after your car becomes a status symbol, but being an old beater is not that point.

> So you just claim that everyone who prefers a nice ride and newer technological assistants etc is using their car for status symbol

Where does avryhof make that claim?

This pretty much implies that anyone that doesn't "just" use their car to get from A to B is using it as a status symbol (in his view at least):

> A vehicle is a way for me and my family to get from point A to point B.... I don't use it as a status symbol.

> This pretty much implies

Well, according to you. I didn't read it that way at all.

avryhof drives a beater car, but the loss of status that might imply doesn't mean much to them because it's just a way of getting from A to B. That doesn't remotely say that everyone else uses their car as a status symbol, just that driving a beater often implies low status or poverty.

I drive a beater car -> I don't mind that it's not very prestigious -> It's just transport.

Not true. Old and popular cars with healthy demand for parts, like 90s Civics, are the most frequently stolen. (The model years just before electronic immobilizers are most at risk).

In these parts, doing things for practical reasons is itself a status symbol. It would be more contrarian to say you own the most expensive car you can lease to get attention.

It's somewhat absurd how insecure car computer systems are. It may not be hugely problematic currently (though as the article illustrates, it's not completely innocuous), but I wonder if manufacturers will improve this before self-driving cars start large-scale rollout; Otherwise, it should be interesting to see the first cases of people's cars driving themselves away overnight.

It won't be long before we long for the days where we had two or three keys: one for the door, one for the ignition, and one for the trunk.

- Replacement is dirt cheap (talking pre-chipped keys here).

- They require no batteries.

- They'll last 20+ years.

- If you don't have the keys you don't have the car (What criminals lockpick and hotwire cars anymore?).

Then again, we'll have to covet holding on to long-lasting cars, though. So scratch that.

I know i've said this before, but I'm 90% sure Ford used to have two separate keys. One for the door and ignition and one that only opened the trunk.

Chevy's too, I wonder at that every time I drive my 70's 4x4. Ironically? I have the parts and plan to update it to remote locks.

And one for the gas cap too

It is (or was?) quite common to have a valet key, which would start the car, but not open the trunk or glove compartment--and in some cases would limit the speed of the car to below e.g. 30mph, in case some valet tried to take the car for a Ferris Bueller-style joyride, I suppose!

Mercedes-Benz's have a pop-out metal clip that can be used to lock the glove and trunk. It's designed to be extract with a simple press so that dropping you car with a valet doesn't require turning off the car to remove it.

Clearly the lock isn't meant to stop a determined intruder. It's more of the "Locks are for honest people" type thing to indicate that you shouldn't be opening the glove or trunk.

My Supra has the valet key, which doesn't open the glovebox, but opens everything else - it's slightly shorter than the main key, so probably trivial to pick the glovebox lock anyway. The smart keys that limit the maximum speed are a nice feature - I think some manufacturers advertise them as being particularly suitable for learners!

My 1976 Chevy Blazer had 2 keys. The ignition key had a square head and the door key had a round head. https://picclick.com/Chevrolet-Corvette-Camaro-Nova-Chevelle...

My Ford has one key, works on everything, of course it is a truck and has no power locks or windows.

No one hotwires cars... because of the chipped keys and 'sophisticated' lock systems

I was just bringing up the workaround to theft back when you didn't have a key.

The simple tool is hammering a flat head screw driver into the ignition. Doors are coat hanger or door pulls you can get off amazon/ebay.

Don't forget the key for the gas cap/charging port.

Why can't the cars (and keys) have something like a TOTP authentication mechanism?

I drive a restored 1972 Dastun 240z. It doesn't even have powered windows.

My 1985 Supra seems stone-age when standing beside any modern car (including my winter car, a 2003 Outback), but the fact that every component does one single job makes me a lot more comfortable about parking it somewhere - the alarm is aftermarket and properly fitted (remarkably reliable), and I have to actually push a button to open the doors. The locks themselves are purely mechanical. Anyone breaking into it is going to have to make some noise.

And I don't have to store my keys in an elevator to stop someone with an amplifier breaking into it.

Putting batteries in the fridge / freezer will dramatically shorten their life.

> Steps to stop car thieves

5. Leave your car in the garage with the door closed

Isn't the wireless garage opener security even worse than cars? They probably open after simply replaying the signal.

Most decent garage door openers use "rolling codes" these days. For example, Genie's "Intellicode"[0]:

> The Intellicode Access Security System provides state-of-the-art security for your home by automatically changing your opener’s access code every time you push the remote control button. This prevents an unauthorized person from stealing the access code to your opener system and gaining entry to your garage.

A quick Google turned up OpenSesame[1] which says this about "rolling codes":

> These are not foolproof from attack, but do prevent the OpenSesame attack along with traditional brute forcing attacks. Suggested vendors: current products from LiftMaster and Genie.

[0] http://www.geniecompany.com/garage-door-openers/retail_std-f...

[1] http://samy.pl/opensesame/

But that only works when real estate prices don't force everyone to park their cars on the street due to renting out their garages as illegal apartments.

Edit: I have been too optimistic. The technology seems much more susceptible to relay attacks than I expected.

Recently there’s been a rise in auto-thefts in Sausalito using the relay attack. It’s not theoretical... you’re being overly optimistic.

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