Vehicle crime to rise if car manufacturers don’t adapt

Independent technical consultancy, SBD, has released a new report highlighting the need for new anti-theft strategies for the next generation of vehicles.

Theft of vehicles is predicted to increase despite a downward trend over the last 10 years, unless car manufacturers take an active approach to evolve vehicle security systems. This is largely due to the global nature of the automotive industry, the availability of technical information and spread of organised crime.

Vehicle crime has evolved from small independent groups operating on a local or national level, to highly organised criminal gangs reaping significant financial rewards on a global scale. As time and resources are continually invested into developing systems to overcome security measures, SBD’s report, Vehicle Crime in the 21st Century and the Impact of Electronic Theft Methods, exposes the methods in which criminals are choosing to overcome devices, and the ways in which Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) can develop systems to combat this.

Stealing car keys, fraud, and most significantly developing electronic methods to beat security systems are the current preferred methods of thieves and SBD reveals that at present almost every vehicle security system can be bypassed.

“With the popularity of the Internet, the ease of communication has increased across the world and is yet another tool that criminals are using to spread information about theft methods,” commented SBD’s Managing Director, David Bell. “As many manufacturers use similar ‘off-the-shelf’ systems, tools to overcome these products can be made common knowledge instantly. In order to tackle this, vehicle manufacturers and suppliers need to develop new robust security strategies that take into account the globalisation of vehicle crime.”

DS Mark Tidy, from the ACPO Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (AVCIS) added, “We welcome this report: although vehicle crime has generally seen a decrease, AVCIS is aware for the need to stay one step ahead of organised crime groups that profit from the theft of and from vehicles.”

For more information, visit sbd.co.uk.