A vehicle anti-theft apparatus and method can prevent the theft of a
vehicle and the illegal use thereof without increased costs. The
apparatus includes an IC card carried by a user of a vehicle, an IC card
reader in the vehicle for reading information contained in the IC card,
and an authentication processing section in the vehicle for
authenticating the user when the vehicle is used. The IC card includes a
memory for storing identification information and use time limit
information of the vehicle. The IC card reader reads the identification
information and the use time limit information stored in the memory. When
the identification information of the IC card and authentication
identification information stored beforehand in the vehicle coincide with
each other, and when a current time is within a use time limit of the use
time limit information, the authentication processing section permits the
use of the vehicle.