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If you're worried about the increasingly sophisticated ways in which thieves are stealing cars, a Faraday bag for your car keys could be the peace-of-mind solution you've been looking for.
Incidences of car theft, and theft from cars, have been rising in recent years as criminals find sophisticated ways to bypass previously effective security systems and gain entry into vehicles.
"We've seen an uptick in vehicle theft over recent years after a long-term decline, although it's still nowhere near back to the levels it was in the '90s," Dr Rick Brown, Deputy Director of the Australian Institute of Criminology, told Drive.
"Basically what happened was that, in 2001, electronic immobilisers were made mandatory in all new vehicles [in Australia], and that had a massive impact on reducing the theft of vehicles because it made it hard to steal the car without the key.
"However, with the increase in keyless cars, what we've seen is that doing away with the physical key has led to forms of car theft that weren't previously possible."
These methods include a relay or booster attack, where a thief uses a device to extend the signal from the key fob and gain access to the car. In more sophisticated instances, thieves can even duplicate this signal and copy it onto a new key, allowing them to drive away with the car.
"The method I've also seen is using the onboard diagnostic (OBD) port inside the car – there are all manner of devices you can purchase that plug into the OBD port and override the immobiliser," Dr Brown explained.
According to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, over half of motor vehicle thefts in Australia in 2022–23 took place at the owners' homes, suggesting thieves were likely gaining access to the keys by either stealing them or replicating them.
“An estimated 55,000 households had a motor vehicle stolen in the last 12 months, with 59 per cent saying that the incident happened at their own or another person’s home," William Milne, ABS head of crime and justice statistics, said in a statement.
So, how can you protect yourself against technologically advanced car theft like relay or booster attacks? It turns out the solution might be a simple, affordable item available to any Australian car owner.
What are Faraday bags? What are they made of?
Faraday bags or pouches are containers lined with a material capable of blocking electromagnetic fields.
They are named for their inventor, Michael Faraday, an English scientist who in 1836 created a cage made out of wood and wire mesh that was capable of shielding whatever was inside from electrical charge.
The science behind this invention has since been applied on a massive scale and used in everything from household appliances like microwaves to hospitals, where it can prevent outside signals from interfering with advanced medical imaging tools.
In more recent years, Faraday's creation has been billed as a way to protect against radiation from mobile phones, WiFi networks and electromagnetic fields, as well as security threats from hackers – resulting in the rise of products like Faraday phone cases and even Faraday clothing.
A Faraday bag is a portable container lined with some kind of conductive, metallic material – for example, aluminium or nickel – that can protect its contents from being subjected to radio signals.
Do Faraday bags for your car keys protect against car theft?
Given a lot of modern car theft methods rely on accessing and extending signals from key fobs, could Faraday pouches work to protect your keyless car from being accessed by thieves?
To find out, Drive purchased a number of Faraday bags and pouches online (ranging in price from $12.99 to north of $100) to test whether they were effective in preventing keyless access to vehicles.
In good news, all three of the products we purchased were able to prevent our four test cars – a Volvo EX30, BMW 430i, Mazda CX60 and Range Rover Velar – from being opened while the relevant car key or fob was inside the Faraday pouch.
There's just one key requirement: make sure you properly close your Faraday pouch or bag, as we noticed with one of our products that it was not effective in blocking the signal when the bag's flap was remotely open.
Faraday bags for your car keys
Some examples of the Faraday products Drive tested are listed below:
Susannah Guthrie has been a journalist for over a decade, covering everything from world news to fashion, entertainment, health and now cars. Having previously worked across titles like The New Daily, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, People Magazine and Cosmopolitan, Susannah now relishes testing family cars with the help of her husband and three-year-old son.
