Beyond the key: towards practical radio biometrics in cars

The evolving landscape of vehicle theft in the United Kingdom highlights the limitations of current automotive security technologies and the rise of increasingly sophisticated attack vectors. Using national datasets from the Office for National Statistics and the Home Office, this research identifies significant trends in offender behaviour, vehicle targeting, and victim impact. The study evaluates existing vehicle access systems - including Remote Keyless Entry (RKE), Passive Keyless Entry and Start (PKES), and other digital platforms - highlighting persistent vulnerabilities such as relay attacks, key cloning, and internet-enabled exploits. Emphasis is placed on Channel State Information (CSI)-based radio biometrics, a passive and non-intrusive authentication method that shows strong resilience to spoofing. Comparative analysis positions CSI as a promising candidate for next-generation vehicle access control systems, offering potential benefits in both prevention and post-incident forensic analysis.