Yet another auto crime to watch out for is this new carjacking tactic. How car thieves manage to get to vehicles with such ease? Apple may be partly blamed as tech-savvy car thieves use Apple Air Tags are ideal for car thieves to track down hi-value resale cars, during after-hours. Some tips from investigators with the York Regional Police Auto and Cargo Theft Unit from Canada, are useful:
Here’s How Apple AirTags Are Making Your Cars Vulnerable
If you have one of the cars targeted by thieves, such as the Ford F-150, Lexus RX-350, or Toyota Highlander, and other cars preferred by thieves recently, take precautionary steps. How can thieves identify the cars in the night and drive away the cars? Apple AirTags are tracking devices installed by car thieves in the cars they intend to steal, tracking further movement on their iPhones. Thereafter breaking into the cars is easy for their deft hands and a screwdriver enables front-door access to the vehicle. Then connecting the on-board diagnostics port to an electronic device, resets the car to accept their key and drive off. How do you protect your ride? You need to first understand AirTags.
What Can You Do With AirTags?
AirTags are car-tracking anti-theft devices by Apple. Apple failed to visualise it as a useful tool for the car thieves it was trying to thwart. Once the AirTag is inserted in anything, its movement is tracked on an iPhone. If your iPhone flashes an unknown AirTag nearby, examine your car thoroughly. Check the gasoline and the towing hatch. Park in a proper garage instead of your driveway and clean and inspect your car for such inadvertent thingamajigs. Steering locks and a data port lock enables your car deter thieves. An efficient video surveillance device tracks down culprits faster. Almost all vehicles stolen were of the high end variety. There’s more to just sticking a singular tag under somebody’s car and finding it thereafter. This tactic used by sophisticated car thieves, with resources to reprogram keys of cars after locating it. The police advisory mentions that “once inside, an electronic device, being used by mechanics to reprogram factory settings, is connected to the on-board diagnostics port right below the dashboard and it programs the car to accept a key used by the thieves. After the new key is programmed, the vehicle starts and thieves drive it away.”
Rectification Steps initiated
Apple has rectified by releasing an app for Android that notifies you of any AirTag within your proximity and to combat rogue tag-placers, modified AirTags behavior if separated from their owners. When launched in April, a “lost” tag would emit a noise after three days, but Apple reduced that time frame to 24 hours. AirTags also notifies people when nearby, like the Charger, and if you notice an odd notification, you could make it emit a sound to find it, and disable it with your iPhone. Despite Apple’s efforts, new car theft reports enhance the product’s reputation as the perfect tool for stalkers or thieves. Researchers could jailbreak an AirTag, modify its firmware to change the URL for the user when a tag is reported lost. While jail-breaking the tiny tags is difficult without professional assistance, it’s worrying that it was possible at all.