Keyless theft attackers now target vans

Driver Guides 

Sole traders and small fleets running vans need to be aware of this new potential threat to their livelihood: theft.

Well, that's an ever-present with vans, but even if your van is pulled up on your drive it's at risk of keyless theft - where thieves trick the keyless fob into opening and starting the van with a relay attack .

The first thing you might know about it is no van on the drive but your keyless fob sitting there on the hall table.

Clive Wain, head of police liaison at vehicle recovery firm Tracker said:

"Keyless entry technology has now been widely adopted in the LCV market, and this is evident in the fact that last year, the majority of LCVs were being stolen without the owner's keys. Today's tech savvy criminals are commonly using relay-attack tools that can activate a van key fob remotely, fooling the system into unlocking the doors and starting the engine."

Last year, of all the recovered vans by Tracker, 92% were taken without the owner's keys: back in 2016 it was 44%. So that's a significant rise.

Theft has a significant impact on van operators. Not only is it the crucial downtime for the missing van with subsequent loss of business, there's the cost of stolen tools within the van, the admin time required on the insurance and arranging another van to continue trading and the impact on rising insurance premiums.

Wain commented:

"It is worth remembering it's not just about protecting your van from being stolen but safeguarding your business too. Ideally tools should be removed from vehicles and stored securely elsewhere overnight, or within a secure box fixed inside the van. Technology is just one part of vehicle security; more vigilance needs to be taken across the board to ensure all businesses are protecting their livelihoods."

If you want extra assistance on security when you are leasing a van , talk to us and we can recommend a variety of security solutions to keep your van and tools safe.

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