Auto expert Kondrashov named three vulnerabilities of Chinese cars to car thieves

Since car theft is rare in China, and automakers are always looking to save on production costs, Chinese cars are poorly protected from attack by intruders. Andrey Kondrashov, head of the Laboratory for Copyright Protection against Theft, told Motor magazine about this.

An anti-theft protection specialist has identified three main vulnerabilities of Chinese cars: attackers can relay the signal from the key to the car, quickly register their keys in the car’s memory, or simply break into the driver’s door and replace the electronic units.

“The first vulnerability is the possibility of relaying the key from the owner’s apartment to the car. If the key is in your jacket pocket and it is hanging in the hallway, the attacker can transmit a signal to the car, and the accomplice can open it and start the engine. The second vulnerability is the quick recording of keys,” Kondrashov noted in an interview with Motor.

According to him, special equipment is connected to the car via a diagnostic connector, and in the case of Chinese cars, a connection to the automaker’s server is not required to add a new key to the memory. European brands of cars that are more reliably protected from theft have this measure.

“The third method of stealing Chinese cars is the so-called applied method, when they use force. They break the driver’s door lock and replace a number of electronic units that are involved in the operation of the standard immobilizer with units from another car,” Kondrashov concluded.

Previously, drivers were warned about new grounds for deprivation of rights.