Car Security Timeline

Remote control car alarms were first introduced in the 1980s using a circuit board, coded radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology chip, a battery and a small antenna. The last two are designed so that the fob can broadcast to a car while it's still several feet away.

Immobilisers followed in the mid 1990s, and one estimate suggests that since their introduction vehicle immobilisers have resulted in a 90 percent decrease in vehicle thefts nationwide. Imobilisers have become compulsory on all new cars under EU law from 1998 and many cars also come with basic alarms as standard today.