Canada

Should manufacturers do more to stop vehicle theft? Updated rules could force them

National auto theft summit called due to dramatic increase in stolen vehicles in Canada. Some say 'known vulnerabilities' should be addressed in updated standards for manufacturers, who are pushing back saying solution is complex and requires more effective enforcement.

Automakers, experts say there's no 'silver bullet' to stop rampant vehicle theft

Philip Lee-Shanok · CBC News(Michael Drapack/CBC)

How vehicles get hacked

Bryan Gast, vice president of the investigative services division at Équité Association, which investigates vehicle thefts and frauds on behalf of member insurance companies, said standards must be updated.

He said thieves are hacking the Controller Area Network (CAN bus) of vehicles, which enables communication between various electrical components.

"So CAN bus attacks, reprogramming thefts, relay attacks, all of those things aren't included in the current standard. So really, it's building a vehicle and designing a vehicle with the technology to prevent theft is really the key," Gast said. 

For example, before 2007, Transport Canada did not require vehicles to have engine immobilizers, Gast explained. But when vehicles with keyless and remote start technologies were introduced, safety standards recommended by UL Standards & Engagement (ULSE) were made mandatory.

WATCH | Pressure is on for automakers to improve anti-theft measures:

Automakers pressured to make vehicles harder to steal

9 days agoDuration 1:56At a summit on combating auto theft next week, automakers are expected to face more pressure to modernize and install mandatory anti-theft devices.

Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 114 requires that all new vehicles manufactured or imported for sale in Canada with a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 kilograms or less must be equipped with an immobilization system.

Gast said immobilizers were effective at first and thefts plummeted, but are now easily exploited by thieves with new technology, so manufacturers need to update anti-theft measures.

"Everything else is reactive. If we can stop the theft in the first place, that's a step forward," he said.

According to Gast, there is a new standard out that Transport Canada could adopt: ULC 338: Vehicle Theft Deterrent Equipment and System was published in July 2023, and specifically addresses techniques used by thieves.

"The updated scope also included after-market installation, as well as other updates to align with modern technology, such as, cybersecurity and CAN bus," said Catie Talenti, manager of media relations at ULSE, which published the standard.

• Federal government giving $121M to Ontario police to crack down on auto thefts

• This car was stolen from a driveway in Canada. We found it in West Africa

In a statement, Transport Canada said it "continuously reviews Canada's standards, which includes monitoring how technology is evolving, how that evolution affects federal standards, and whether those standards need to adapt to reflect modern technological changes."

But vehicle manufacturers are skeptical that adopting new standards will be the solution.

Automakers say to target criminals

In a statement, Brian Kingston, president and CEO of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, which includes Ford Motor Company of Canada, General Motors of Canada and Stellantis, said increasing the risk of prosecution is the most effective way to deter vehicle theft.

"And at the same time, providing more outbound inspection controls at the ports to prevent the flow of stolen vehicles to foreign markets by organized criminal organizations," he added.

David Adams, president and CEO of Global Automakers of Canada, said suggesting updated standards assumes that automakers are not constantly upgrading and hardening their vehicle security systems.

"The real issue is well-financed, technologically-savvy, highly organized crime, which is exploiting a myriad of vulnerabilities in Canada making us a source country for stolen vehicles globally," he says.

He cited the United States, where vehicle immobilizers are not mandatory, an example.

"We should have proportionately less vehicle theft in Canada given the required immobilizers here — that is not Canada's experience."

WATCH | Authorities knew where his stolen truck was, but it took 17 days to get it back:

His stolen truck had a tracker. It still took 17 days to get it back

6 days agoDuration 2:27A Toronto man installed a tracker on his truck and alerted police when it was stolen, but it took over two weeks for police or anyone else to take action. After inquiries from CBC News, Canada Border Services Agency finally opened the container with the truck inside 17 days after it was stolen.

Adams said issues include a porous port, lack of officers and easy availability of devices to facilitate theft online. Meanwhile, he said making cars more difficult to steal increases the likelihood of more violent crimes like home invasions and carjackings, as well as potentially making vehicles more difficult to repair.

New technology, new challenges

Mitra Mirhassani is a professor and co-director of SHIELD Automotive Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence at the University of Windsor.  

She said the CAN bus has been identified as a weak point for hacking vehicle networks, and new technologies and global standards are being developed to increase security. 

"But no system is ever 100 per cent secure," she said. "No one can claim that their cars are without any security flaws."