Vodafone is helping Israeli firm PlaxidityX, formerly Argus Cyber Security, address the rapidly growing surge of modern car theft.

Vodafone Automotive is offering the PlaxidityX vDome anti-theft product with its car tracking service.

Modern car theft methods have become a significant problem for the entire automotive ecosystem. While traditional car theft involves breaking a window or stealing a key, today’s car thieves have gone high-tech, and are able to unlock, start and steal a car in less than 30 seconds, using electronic hacking devices that can be acquired on the dark web.

Car theft is escalating into a national crisis in many countries. In Canada, auto theft insurance claims surpassed $1.5bn in 2023. Similarly, the USA reported over a million stolen vehicles in the same year, up 25% on previous years.

Vehicle theft is a multi-billion-dollar crime, costing vehicle owners more than $8bn each year. Besides the anguish for car owners, car theft also causes reputation damage to vehicle manufacturers, as well as increasing insurance premiums or even making insurance coverage difficult to obtain.

“Our mission is to innovate and make mobility safe and secure,” said Gion Baker, Vodafone Automotive CEO. “The partnership with PlaxidityX enables us to co-develop an additional layer of protection to address the surges in modern car theft techniques. Leveraging PlaxidityX’s industry-leading cyber security expertise and knowledge, the vDome tackles these modern theft challenges head-on, and is a great fit with our existing product offerings.”

PlaxidityX vDome (plaxidityx.com/products/vdome-can-injection-car-theft-protection) software has been integrated into Vodafone Automotive’s anti-theft and after-theft management. VDome is a patented, AI-powered prevention option that proactively detects and neutralises malicious theft attempts in real time. It identifies unauthorised activities on the vehicle network that indicate an attempt to steal the car, and then triggers a theft prevention action. Such unauthorised activities may include, for example, electronic manipulations to unlock the doors and start the engine.

“Our vision is to ensure that every journey is both safe and worry-free,” said Ronen Smoly, PlaxidityX CEO. “The escalating wave of modern auto theft isn’t just a security threat, it’s a massive financial strain on car owners, manufacturers and insurers. By combining vDome’s advanced anti-theft capabilities with Vodafone Automotive’s advanced offerings, we’re securing vehicles against sophisticated threats as well as restoring peace of mind and a safe travel experience.”

Vodafone Automotive (automotive.vodafone.com), part of Vodafone Business, specialises in in-car telematics and vehicle safety services. Operating in 54 countries, it provides emergency calls, stolen vehicle recovery, usage-based services and driving behaviour scoring for insurance companies, as well as fleet management.

PlaxidityX (plaxidityx.com) provides dev-sec-ops, vehicle protection and fleet protection technologies and services for automotive and mobility manufacturers. It ensures vehicle components, networks and fleets are secured and compliant throughout their life cycle. Founded in 2014, PlaxidityX is headquartered in Israel, with a footprint in USA, Germany, France, Japan, Korea, Poland and India.