Wireless car key thieves

[TerraHertz]

http://investmentwatchblog.com/thieves-are-using-mystery-gadgets-to-electronically-unlock-cars-and-steal-what-is-inside/

'Mystery gadgets'. Good grief. Who didn't see this one coming a mile off? Especially since such things have been around for years - they just seem to be getting very common.

What really amazes me is that the stupidity of making everything wireless has gone so far as cars being remotely hijackable, while in motion.

Some background:


Digital Carjackers Show Off New Attacks

http://blog.ioactive.com/2013/08/car-hacking-content.html
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6163325
Car Hacking Whitepaper and tools released

http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=44269
Richard Clarke: Hastings Accident "Consistent with a Car Cyber Attack"

http://www.delaat.net/rp/2012-2013/p40/report.pdf
Tinfoil attack
Research on the security threats and weaknesses of GSM-based communication in a BMW car
University of Amsterdam
"Modern cars become more advanced every year [1]. In-car computers have evolved from
engine control to media and entertainment systems. As part of the European eCall
project [2] all new cars delivered from 2015 have to be equipped with GSM and position
determination functionality (like GPS). This system allows emergency services to act
faster on road accidents as newly produced cars in 2015 are able to both automatically
report and send crash data. Many car vendors combine the GSM-module which is now
required in new cars with their own in-car systems to provide customers with extra
services such as news, weather, e-mail and a web browser. Some vendors are going even
further by developing smartphone applications to let customers use their smartphone to
control features such as the ability to remotely lock and unlock doors, adjust climate
control and to show the vehicle location on a map. In this project research is done on
the setup of such a system and possible threats in the security are identified."

All of that over the net, which is no longer friendly:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-15/internet-now-weaponized-and-you-are-target
http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/11/this-is-how-the-internet-backbone-has-been-turned-into-a-weapon/

[SeanB]

Happening a lot here, the most common being simply having another remote and jamming the lock signal, as most people simply walk away from the car, press the button and do not look to see if it is locking. Pretty common in shopping malls, especially as the thieves will know you will be away for a while and will have easy exit with the loot.

[romantronixlab]

My every day job is working on cars and its electronics. And that is exactly what I tell my coworkers I don't like. Don't get me wrong, electronics are awesome and they help us do lots of stuff with ease and safely on a car, but there limits (sort of).
One thing is real security does not exist it is a feeling, but with all the RF gadgets out there for one trying to break in is not hard to get to. Trust me I have seen it.

[don.r]

Yeah... I think I'll keep my 14 year old minivan running a little longer... 

[Rerouter]

Yep, i think I'll keep my 2004 corolla for another decade 

[Tinkerer]

Its said they went after Michael Hastings? like this. Doubt we will know, but the ability is there for anyone determined.

[peter.mitchell]

One of the guys in the video, Charlie Miller, is a very smart, and humorous man, usually, i see people at conferences as just "software people", but this guy changed that for me.