last week we caught wind of a piece from the Today Show that shows extremely technically minded thieves stealing cars and trucks with a little device. Cops don’t understand exactly how they’re doing it, as well as of program the Today show (and the Hackaday comments) were full of speculation. The top three theories for exactly how these thieves are unlocking cars and truck doors are jamming a keyless entry’s ‘lock signal’, a radio transmitter to send an ‘unlock’ code, or a little EMP gadget touched to the traveler side door to make it unlock.
That last theory – utilizing a little EMP gadget to unlock a car’s door – got the interest of somebody who develops mini EMP devices and has utilized them to get credit histories on slot machines. He emailed us under a condition of anonymity, however he states it’s extremely unlikely a mini EMP gadget would be able to activate the solenoid on a cars and truck door.
This anonymous electromagnetic wizard would like to open up a difficulty to Hackaday readers, though: demonstrate a miniature EMP gadget able to unlock an unmodified cars and truck door, as well as you’ll make the respect of high voltage tinkerers the world over. If you’re successful you might always offer your gadget to a few criminal interests, however let’s keep things above board here.