Ban rides and other things from the Middle Ages and modern times
I always like the looks, especially from the children, when I walk around my car armed with a key to lock all the doors: The front doors with the key, the rear doors with a latch and the boot lid with another key. The younger generation is no longer used to this. A car that doesn't open or close at all four corners after a quick flick of the switch no longer exists in their universe.
Well, yes, it is much more convenient to be able to simply walk up to your car and stand directly in front of an open door. However, modern locking systems also have some disadvantages. I myself once had some of my computer and photographic equipment stolen from the trunk of a brand new test car, a Korean premium brand of the latest design. During a visit to an external depot belonging to the well-known car collector Corrado Lopresto, we had parked the car directly in front of his garage door and locked it so that we could take a look at a car parked directly behind it. The short distance of around three meters - with the gate in between - unlocked the new car when I approached it again, thanks to keyless entry. However, this went unnoticed by us. But the rascals, who had probably been watching the scene from across the street and had identified the large, dark Genesis G80 as an ideal target, had not failed to notice and had seized it - without using force and without causing any damage to the car. However, we only noticed the loss when we were transferring it to the photographer's car, which he had left behind in Como.
Well, radio signals! Everything that is encrypted and travels through the ether can obviously still be intercepted and misused for criminal purposes. I first heard about such machinations when a friend's car was "opened" in Holland. In this case, there was no question of breaking in, because the car opened properly. The thieves' trick was to amplify the signal from the - what a paradox! - keyless keys so that they reached the corresponding cars. This "game" was made easier by the fact that in the neighborhood in question, as in many places in Holland and elsewhere, the cars are parked directly in front of the corresponding terraced houses and the key is usually placed directly behind the door or in an item of clothing hanging in the checkroom. All it takes is to create a signal bridge so that the car in question with keyless entry thinks its owner has approached it and, conversely, the key thinks it has been brought near. Brave new world! However, a simple trick is all it takes for one of the partners in this game to be taken out of it: Putting the key further away from the road or even placing it in a metal box to shield it prevents the key signal from being intercepted.
But that's not all the pranks with modern locking systems: As can now be read on the SRF Swiss TV and radio portal, a new car doesn't even need to open itself. Hacker software deciphers the codes that the car and key use to communicate with each other and which are - to put it casually - "renegotiated" after each locking process. Both the car and the key know which code the car should use to open its doors the next time. However, the hackers use a program to test the codes on the car in question until they find what they are looking for. The car opens its doors, but it will no longer respond to the key, because the key still thinks that the code already used by the hacker is still valid, while the car in question has already selected a new one. Even if only the chocolate bar in the center console was missing, the car would no longer open automatically.
Well, as always, everything new and even better has a downside. In future, however, I will prefer to take a little walk around my car. Incidentally, you can also take the opportunity to check the condition of the tires to see if everything is still attached and if there isn't a leak somewhere. And it's like the traditional ban rides. In the area where I grew up, they still exist today: an area that is supposed to be under special protection is ceremoniously walked around, usually the parish area. As it is Catholic, this is usually accompanied by a figure of a saint, incense to make the blessing even more effective and lots of folklore. Well, it's kind of similar with my cars: the walk around is just such a ritual and is intended to protect both man and machine from harm and - if that doesn't help - at least open the doors!
