Car industry hits back at vehicle security tests

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Tristan Shale-Hester 2019-03-21 11:10

Both industry and manufacturers criticise Thatcham Research’s new assessments for keyless-theft protection and vehicle security systems

The car industry has hit back at a new vehicle security test that gave poor ratings to a number of new 2019 models for their alleged vulnerability to keyless and other types of theft.

The new assessments from Thatcham Research examine a car’s ability to resist increasingly common methods of theft, such as relay attacks and OBD (on-board diagnostics) hacks, and then gives a rating of either ‘Superior’, ‘Good’, ‘Basic’, ‘Poor’ or ‘Unacceptable’.

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Thatcham tried the test out on 11 brand-new 2019 models, seven of which received a rating of poor or worse. However, the industry was quick to fight back against these claims, calling Thatcham’s testing methods into question.

One of the cars rated as ‘poor’ by Thatcham was the new Kia ProCeed. A statement from the manufacturer said: “Thatcham has not communicated with us on this testing procedure and has not outlined how this rating was achieved.”

It added that another report from Thatcham on the same car from February 2019 gave the ProCeed a security rating of four out of five stars.

Hyundai also took issue with Thatcham’s methods. The hydrogen fuel-cell Nexo was also given a rating of ‘poor’, but Hyundai said example tested was a pre-production prototype and was not equipped with the full security system found on customer cars.

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The only car tested to receive an ‘unacceptable’ rating was the new Suzuki Jimny, but the Japanese brand pointed out that the car is not available with keyless entry and has a mechanical steering column lock as opposed to an electronic one, so is not vulnerable to external relay attacks. Thatcham’s tests assess security are said to assess more than just keyless systems, however.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders), said the organisation had “serious concerns” with the system, which he described as having been “developed in isolation” and “at odds” with its creator’s own insurance classification.

He added that it “does not compare like with like”, “has the potential to confuse rather than simplify a very complex issue” and “offers a signpost to thieves”.

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