＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
Recently, there has been news about the emergence of a new type of vehicle theft method known as a “relay attack.”
It is quite shocking that a locked car parked in a home garage could be stolen.
In this article, I would like to consider the theft methods and crime prevention measures.
１．What is a “relay attack”?
In December 2018, there was an attempted theft of a luxury Lexus in Osaka. The entire incident was caught on surveillance camera footage, revealing the full extent of the relay attack.
The smart key was, of course, inside the house. The weak radio waves emitted by the smart key only reach a distance of about 1m, so it should have been safe to keep the key at least 1m away from the door or window of the house.
However, this time the perpetrators were a duo, one standing near the car while the other approached the house carrying a “large bag.” The “large bag” contained an “amplifier” and a “repeater.”
The car door opened after receiving the weak radio waves from the smart key, but a passerby happened to be walking by, so the attempted theft was foiled.
It appears that the criminals planned to steal luxury cars using this method, change the keys, and resell them.
This “relay attack” device has apparently been available in China since around 2017 for the low price of $20.
２．What are the countermeasures to prevent damage from “relay attacks”?
Experts recommend the following three methods to prevent damage from relay attacks:
(1) Put the smart key in a “relay attack prevention pouch.” This “pouch” is made of a material that does not leak radio waves, and can be purchased for less than 1,000 yen.
(2) Put the smart key in an “empty can.” However, it seems that tin cans do not have a very high radio wave blocking ability. It is also effective to wrap the smart key in aluminum foil used for cooking.
(3) Store the smart key as far back as possible in the building.
Whenever a convenient function is developed, there will always be people who take advantage of it and come up with new crimes to exploit that gap.