Video Emerges Of Hackers Entering Tesla Vehicle With Hacked Key Fob

by Gavin Hanson

A British Tesla owner posted a home security video to YouTube of his Tesla Model S being stolen from his driveway with only a tablet and a smartphone on Sunday.

YouTube user and (former) Tesla owner Antony Kennedy edited together and annotated this video of two thieves stealing his luxury car by exploiting the car’s keyless access feature.

By Kennedy’s assumption, the car-jackers used a smartphone and a tablet to boost the signal from his fob, which he says was “at the back of the house,” and disable the GPS tracking system built into the car so neither Tesla nor Kennedy could trace where the thieves took his Model S.

Hacking open the car seems to have been the easy part of the theft as the hardest part of getting the car out of Kennedy’s driveway seems to have been untethering it from his home charging station. After less than a minute the criminals were able to open the car. Had they had the wherewithal to google how to unplug the car from its charging cable they would have made a far more timely escape.

The Model S comes standard with added security features that can be optionally engaged by owners. Kennedy is open about the fact that he did not utilize the PIN code ignition feature or disable the “passive entry” feature which is designed to unlock the car when it senses its fob approaching.

Kennedy took to Twitter to plead with the company for a more secure system and bring attention to the theft.

@elonmusk My @tesla was stolen this morning, with just a tablet and a phone extending my fob range from the back of the house. I get that I should enabled PIN access. I wish it was harder for them to disable remote access though. I can’t track it or disable it. 🙁

— Antony Kennedy @booshtukka@home.social (@booshtukka) October 21, 2018

Tesla did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment in time for publication.

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