Can your remote be copied?

Would it disturb you to know how easy it is for most alarms to have a remote cloned without your knowledge? Are you even aware that all I would need to program a remote without your knowledge is;  access to a working remote and your vehicle, a new remote of the same model and less than one minute of my time!

How easy is it to have yours cloned?

You may think that having a system with a rolling code remote with over 18,000,000,000,000,000,000+ code combinations makes your system secure, but what is there from preventing your local garage from cloning a remote without your knowledge the next time you take the car in for a service?

So much for your alarm and Immobiliser!

What can be done to prevent your remote from being copied?

One of the requirements for Thatcham approval is to make sure that new remotes can not be programed without the alarm/immobiliser security over-ride number. Therefor if you have a Cobra or Autowatch system then you have nothing to worry about. However there is no requirement for this under AS/NZS 4601:1999. In other words most NZSA Star rated alarms are vulnerable to this issue.

Systems made by the following brands are all vulnerable:

AVS

Dynatron

Mongoose

Plus I’m sure there are many others I have not mentioned!

Paranoid Prevention!

I know there will be an assumption that the knowledge to program new remotes is not readily available, but most alarm suppliers will sell the remotes on-line with instructions included. Mongoose even have the information freely available on their website! There is nothing from stopping someone dishonest from having one remote programmed to multiple vehicles which would allow them to silently disarm your alarm/immobiliser any time they like!

The best prevention would be to opt for an alarm or immobiliser that meets with Thatcham approval, however you could always re-program your remotes every time you lend the keys to someone else!