Thatcham Research, has launched a new car security rating system to help consumers better understand the theft risk of new cars. The new ratings assess whether measures to specifically address the keyless entry/start vulnerability, have been adopted.

Thatcham says 6 of 11 vehicles launched this year have been given a ‘Poor’ rating as the keyless entry/start system they have as an option has no security measures to prevent theft by criminals using the so-called ‘Relay Attack’ technique.

Richard Billyeald, Chief Technical Officer at Thatcham Research commented, “This initiative focuses on addressing keyless entry/start vulnerability. We’ve seen too many examples of cars being stolen in seconds from driveways. Now, any vehicle that is assessed against the new Thatcham Research Security Rating, and has a vulnerable keyless entry/start system, will automatically not achieve the best rating” He added, “Security has come a long way since vehicle crime peaked in the early 1990s. But the layers of security added over the years count for nothing when they can be circumvented instantly by criminals using digital devices. The shame is that most of the cars rated ‘Poor’ would have achieved at least a ‘Good’ rating had their keyless entry/start systems not been susceptible to the Relay Attack.”

The new ratings place cars in five categories based on security: superior, good, basic, poor and unacceptable. New cars given a ‘Superior’ security rating by Thatcham included the Audi e-tron, Jaguar XE, Land Rover Evoque and Mercedes B-Class with the testers saying these carmakers had made significant strides in addressing keyless entry/start vulnerability, by either switching to a more secure wireless technology or introducing key fobs that go to sleep when idle.

Model that received a "poor" rating include; Ford Mondeo, Hyundai Nexo, Kia ProCeed, Lexus UX, Porsche Macan and Toyota Corrolla.

The rating is designed to reflect current theft trends, with the new release including the latest digital exploitations, whilst maintaining the existing mechanical aspects. Thatcham Research has been conducting security assessments for insurers on all new and facelifted models since the early 1990s. Thatcham Research technicians conduct a series of tests, ranging from timed ‘brute-force’ attacks on locks and access points, to tests that identify digital vulnerabilities, namely whether the keyless entry/start system is susceptible to the Relay Attack or the On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) Port allows blank keys to be coded.

Cars that fail the keyless entry/start and OBD tests move down a category per failure. The rating applies whether the keyless entry/start system is optional or standard-fit.