New technology can often bring benefits to car design but can also sometimes create new problems. Keyless car entry systems is a prime example of this and is leading to the emergence of a new type of thief, the cyber car criminal.

In the UK a wave of car thefts, in Cambridge, West Midlands, London and Brighton have been put down not to the smash and grab thief, but the smart thief who hacks into a vehicle’s onboard computer systems.

Cambridge Police are so concerned about the trend that they have issued warnings to local drivers urging owners of keyless vehicles, especially Ford models, to take urgent extra security measures, with the distinctly low tech steering lock seen as the best short term precaution.

It is thought that keyless crime now accounts for one in three vehicle thefts in the UK and cyber theft techniques are involved in 42% of all stolen car cases in London.