Posted on 05/12/2015 4:49:16 AM PDT by thackney
Hands-free car entry systems, which typically unlock car doors without requiring the pushing of any buttons when owners are close to their vehicles, provide great convenience. Unfortunately, however, people have begun marketing for sale devices that allow criminals to exploit a technological vulnerability in these systems, and crooks have been seen using “mystery devices” to open cars equipped with hands-free car entry systems. Once in a car, crooks can steal whatever is in it, and, while most of the recent issue has been just that, they can also potentially connect a device to the vehicle’s diagnostic port in an effort to download sufficient information in order to create a key to drive and steal the vehicle, a problem about which the British police are now warning....
While there have been various suggestions as to how keyless entry systems can be hacked, and various techniques have been discussed at conferences, the current issue seems to be the following:
The communications between your key fob and car are intended to take place only when the fob is near the vehicle (usually “near” means within approximately a yard or so from the vehicle), thereby ensuring that the car can be opened only when the owner is nearby. A relatively simple device that physically boosts the wireless signal between fobs and cars, however, enables communication to take place between at least some manufacturer’s fobs and cars when the two are much further apart. By leveraging such a signal booster, a criminal can trick a car into thinking that the fob is close by even when it is much further than a yard away; some reports claim that devices for sale online may work to open cars even if their associated fobs are as far away as the distance of an entire football field!
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Now we need to pull the fuse or install a switch in the power line to the module. I never thought those things were that secure.
And the same amplifier transmitting white noise can deny access by jamming the key signal.
I see some nasty pranking coming up in the executive parking lots of big corporations.
It could be used for far worse applications than just ‘pranking.’
Never trusted them.
I have an old jeep with no top or doors but it is a manual transmission so that could beat a few lesser seasoned thieves.
Besides it is geared so low, it tops at 45. The steering gearbox is worn out so that slow someone down a little also.
Do or did some of the new keyless entry systems actually rely on pin codes? Because if so, it would be very easy for someone to spy with binocs and steal the code.
This is talking about the technology that requires no input by the user. No pushing buttons, just a constant signal that normally requires the user to get close, like within a yard.
That is why they refer to it as hands-free. You can leave the device in your pocket and just open the door.
>> It could be used for far worse applications than just ‘pranking.’<<
Yeah, but I didn’t want to go there.
Yes, I know. I was just wondering about other modern keyless systems, whether a pin code was all that was required to get in.
No, modern keyless entry systems rely on a somewhat randomized code of fairly significant length.
Check this link out:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/can-thieves-steal-your-keyless-entry-codes
Excerpt:
According to the lock specialists at Ford, each keyless-entry transmitter has a transmitter identification code (TIC) that is programmed and, therefore, linked to the vehicle. But even if thieves manage to mimic the TIC, the unlocking/locking process is even more complicated.
Here’s how it works: To issue an unlocking/locking action, the transmitter sends a request to the receiver/control module in the car. With the request, the transmitter also sends a new code sequence and TIC to the receiver. To issue an unlock/lock command, the code sequence and TIC sent by the transmitter must be one that hasn’t been used before and the next—or one of the next few—in a planned sequence. This is what is known as a rolling code. And there aren’t just a lot of possible codes; there are a whole buttload of them—4.8 million billion combinations. So even if thieves did manage to steal the TIC and the code sequence from the transmitter, the chance of stumbling upon that crucial next code is one in 4.8 million billion. Good luck with that.
Always wondered how many codes it takes to fill a butt :).
Ok, thanks. It certainly would have been ridiculous if all that was needed to gain entrance to the car was a simple pin code. But you never know these days. :)
A pin code is not involved in the technology discussed.
Thanks, but I know that.
Then I don’t understand your previous question.
As a woman, I like my keyless entry. No fumbling around in dark parking lots for your keys. I would never have my keys out walking through the lots either, because they are too easy to see and steal.
I expect the car companies will come up with something in the key fob to defeat this concept.
I live in the boonies anyhow, and this sophisticated thievery occurs in metro areas, as a rule.
The general subject of keyless entry systems made me wonder about push button entry systems. Sorry for wandering off.
Re: Do or did some of the new keyless entry systems actually rely on pin codes? Because if so, it would be very easy for someone to spy with binocs and steal the code.
okay, thanks for clarifying.
Cheers!
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