What is Relay Attack and Why You Should Be Cautious This Summer with Your Car

During the months of July, August, and September 2024, 8,568 cars were stolen, marking the quarter with the highest vehicle thefts of the past year and representing a 4% increase over the quarterly average. This seasonality is supported by similar figures in recent years: 2% in 2023, 4% in 2022, and 6% in 2021. According to the Crime Balance figures from the Ministry of the Interior over the last four years, the third quarter of the year shows a higher car theft rate than the quarterly average each year.

"Undoubtedly, the summer season is more attractive to organized crime networks, which have traditionally opted to operate in more tourist areas. Not only in the Balearic Islands and Murcia, but also in Catalonia and Andalusia, we have observed that there is invariably a higher number of summer thefts since 2021," points out Gregoire Destre, manager of Coyote in Spain.

Currently, protecting vehicles against theft has become a challenge due to the emergence of sophisticated techniques that exploit vulnerabilities in electronic systems. Among them, relay attacks and OBD theft stand out, methods that illustrate the growing difficulty of protecting cars against theft.

Relay attacks take advantage of the convenience of keyless entry and start systems. Thieves use devices to intercept and amplify the signal emitted by the car key, even if it is inside the owner's home. This amplified signal is retransmitted to the vehicle, tricking it into unlocking and allowing the engine to start, all without forcing locks or triggering alarms. The greatest risk lies in the speed and lack of visible damage, making early detection of the theft difficult. Vehicles most susceptible are those equipped with keyless entry and start systems, a feature increasingly common in recent models.

On the other hand, OBD theft focuses on the accessibility of the On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) port in the vast majority of current vehicles. This port, designed to facilitate maintenance and repair, can be used by criminals to connect devices that program new keys or disable the car's original security systems. Once the system is manipulated, the vehicle can be started and stolen in a matter of seconds. The main risk is the inherent vulnerability of the physical connection and the ability to override electronic protections.

"In 9 out of 10 cases, vehicles are stolen without break-in using electronic methods and, therefore, are quickly recovered in good condition by our field teams," states Gregoire.