The new way to break into a car - by texting!

thirtythirty

So it looks like it's officially beginning; car software is reaching a stage of advancement that allows it to be hacked, and by fairly crude methods at that!


How long before we see the first car virus do you think?

Person: There's something wrong with my car
Mechanic: What's wrong?
Person: The car shudders as I drive along
Mechanic: Oh right. Ye you've probably got a brake-lock virus.
Person: F'ckin windows.

Wetbench4

Does this mean in a few years, when i start my car i'll get a load of google ads before i can use the radio??

Anan1

wrote:

By setting up their own GSM network, they were able to snatch up password authentication messages being sent from server to car

Messages being sent from server to car? I just had a look on the Subaru US website and I can find no mention of any such feature?

langdang

Anan1 wrote: »

Messages being sent from server to car? I just had a look on the Subaru US website and I can find no mention of any such feature?

Hmmm, part of traffic avoidance feature of the SatNav maybe? Can't see why your car would be talking to a network otherwise. Altho why would a satnav (even an integrated one) have access to your ECU or body control module?

Jumpy

They also had a fellow on who hacked into his own insulin pump and could in theory kill himself by overdose if he so chose.

langdang

LIGHTNING wrote: »

If the designers had any sense they would be on two seperate systems to avoid the above issue.

Thinking about it (I have a boggo old school jap so these fancy dan gadgets are a mystery to me) I suppose the integrated satnav screens are also used to display non-satnav stuff (fuel left in tank, oil level, error mesages from ECU). So there is some amount of two-way communication I suppose. The designers just didn't expect anyone to exploit it obviously!

Wetbench4

Do they not mean the communication between your car and your key fob. Maybe it was a keyless car which probably means it would be constantly scanning for the fob. As far as i know these operate on a similar frequency to wifi and mobile phones. If you could fool the car into thinking your android phone was the fob, you'd have easy access.

mike65

No accident that this effects a Japanese car maybe, they have almost no car theft.

Big Nasty

Don't know if this is true at all but I heard a story about a guy locking his keys in his car and it was recommended to him that he ring his missus on his mobile and get her to hold the spare up to the phone and click it to unlock the car.

Urban myth?

mike65

I've heard that one but doubt it works as the phone would distort/change the frequency with its own frequency.

pajo1981

naive and cringeworthy

Owen

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Don't know if this is true at all but I heard a story about a guy locking his keys in his car and it was recommended to him that he ring his missus on his mobile and get her to hold the spare up to the phone and click it to unlock the car.

Urban myth?

Completely, a phone transmits audible signals. That's from 20 Hz to 20KHz. A mobile phone transmits far less hence the quality of voice on a mobile is usually less than a landline. A car remote usually operates around 433 Mhz, so far beyond anything the microphone can pick up, or anything the ear piece can replicate.

-Corkie-

Owen wrote: »

Completely, a phone transmits audible signals. That's from 20 Hz to 20KHz. A mobile phone transmits far less hence the quality of voice on a mobile is usually less than a landline. A car remote usually operates around 433 Mhz, so far beyond anything the microphone can pick up, or anything the ear piece can replicate.

I must memorise this post because the amount of clowns that think this is true is unbelieveable....

langdang

Wetbench - no, the info in the article does not suggest that the keyless entry RF system was used. Looks like it was GSM or WCDMA network based.
Especially when you look at this article http://www.scmagazineus.com/black-hat-car-unlocked-started-via-war-texting/article/209037/

As for the remote unlocking over the phone thing - as Owen said, any of the RF fobs won't work at all over the phone. The way old ultra sonic fobs might work over some phones* but to be honest that's also unlikely, as the processing and filtering that happens to maximise the calls on a network would filter out inaudible stuff (as per Owens frequencies mentioned above). You could hardly make out voice on some networks and phones, let alone ultrasonic signals!

*Better chance on old analog networks, feck all chance on digital networks I'd say..