Slashdot Mirror
Car RFID Security System Cracked
jmichaelg writes "The NY Times reports that the security chip in new auto keys has been cracked. A team at Johns Hopkins have found a method to extract the 30 bit crypto key that tells your car that the physical key in the ignition switch is the correct key. Texas Instruments has sold some 150 million security chips that are stored in the car key. The devices are credited with reducing car thefts of some car models by 90%. Stealing a crypto key requires standing next to the victim and broadcasting a series of challenges to the key and capturing the responses. The team claims an iPod-sized device would suffice to steal the crypto key in under a second. They advise wrapping your keys in foil when you're not using them. TI admits the team has cracked their code but denies there's any problem."
Good thing I always keep my keys wrapped in tinfoil.
The difference between spam and poop is that you don't have to dig through septic tanks looking for real food. -- Me
Folks there is nothing to worry about, nothing to see here-OH MY GOD WHERE IS MY CAR?
You know the world's coming to an end when a team of security experts from a respected institution advises wrapping your car keys in tinfoil so the Bad Guys can't intercept the secret signal!
That's it. I'm no longer part of Team Sanity.
Seriously, who makes any kind of security device with only a 30-bit key any more?
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
Well, theres not much of one, I mean they still need to burn it to a chip or somehow get that same signal over the wire, plus they also need to have the key to start it. I mean, modern cars arn't exactly easy to hotwire(not saying a pro can't do it fast). Basically this stuff means that the hightech thieves have a possible tool, but hitech thieves account for very little actual theft. Most autotheft is more of the smash and go, or the steal the keys and run.
Lot's of things are possible. Will any statistically significant number of people try this? And how many will be successful? Not many. It's still safer than a regular key system, people should lose sleep over more realistic problems.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
Isn't who the heck uses such a small secutiry key, but who the heck makes one that broadcasts at all? A metal key in a metal ignition has no reason to broadcast its code through the air!
~~ Please keep your arms, legs, and outright stupidity inside the ride at all times. Thank You ~~
There's no problem because TI engineers can steal whatever cars they want...
You know, I'm starting to wonder if there was something to all those old sci-fi movies and tv shows where the characters were all wearing shiny tinfoil-like clothes. Perhaps in the future we will all be wearing stuff like that to prevent others from wirelessly stealing our keys/wallet/identity, etc.
All you'd have to do is put a towing company logo (or something made-up and likely-looking), and who'd say anything?
And take your time getting ready to leave, because the very worst that'll happen is that someone'll come back early and bribe you into leaving.
Carousel is a lie!
Does this mean I might no longer have to pay the dealer $80 each for duplicate Honda Odyssey keys? Because that would be nice.
p
In Korea, long hair is for old people!
I worked as a locksmith for awhile and getting those keys made is expensive to say the least. Plus you need a transponder machine to encode a key with the correct information. And they don't come cheap. Where I live it's usually over a $100 to get a new transponder key made and some dealerships charge around $60-$70 to make you a new one.
Risk everything, or gain nothing.
Fortunately for me, my sig is RFID enable... oh crap.
First, it was suggested that you wrap your newfangled passports in tin foil. Now it's car keys. I guess it's time for Calvin Klein, Gucci, DKNY and other designers to release their line of tin-foil clothing. Or how about clothing with pockets reinforced with tin foil?
/me runs off to patent office.
Wait, that sounds like a profitable idea.
the old method requires you stand next to the person with the key and hit them on the head with a shovel.
more effective, but not as 1337.
Where's Robin Hood? We could kinda really use him now.
First off, the key doesn't use static from the ignition. Read about this baby that swallowed a key to have that bit set straight.
Secondly, responding to the parent of this post's parent, a neighbor of mine who owned an Integra Type R (that, it just so happens, was exactly like mine) had his car stolen in under two minutes while mall security guards watched. The monkeys smashed the window, opened up the passenger floorboard, snipped the immobilizer lead, shoved a screwdriver into the ignition, and drove off.
The very next morning his car was found, minus its motor and expensive bits, rolled over, several times, into a lake. That he didn't have insurance at the time doesn't make the implementation details of immobilizers more or less important. Improperly implemented, these chips are about as potent as Master locks on chicken-wire fences.
"The team claims an iPod-sized device would suffice to steal the crypto key in under a second."
Is that the 40GB iPod, 20GB iPod, iPod Mini or iPod shuffle?
My parent's new Prius has absolutly no ignition at all just a "Smart Key" that automatically opens the car when it gets with in a set distace. And once inside they key remotely enables a button that you push to start the car. I don't know if it's the same chip but if you could get that code remotely it would make it very easy to steal a 2005 prius. I mean walk up, open the car, sit and bush a button.
Who knew chewing gum could actually provide an additional benefit?
:)
MacGyver did.
love slashdot. populate it. use it. abuse it. hate it. kill it. miss it. stop following links, they only kill servers.
You have to realise that AES 256 takes some rather beefy hardware to implement. Even 3DES is non-trivial. Now it's all no big deal when you talk PCs, they've got power to spare. However when you are talking embedded apps, it's different. In this case you are talking a VERY tiny chip that obviously must have very low power requirements. This places realistic limits on what it can do.
Also, when you get down to it, it's probably good enough. We aren't talking military secrets here, we are talking a car. The point isn't to make it unbreakable, because that's worthless, it's just ot make it harder to steal the car. You can't make a secure car. No matter what you do, someone can find a way to override it and steal your car. What this does is add a layer of security that makes it much harder for normal thieves.
Physical security isn't like virtual security. We get so used to haveing essenitally perfect (until someone finds a hole) virtual security, some expect the same thing in the real world. No, actually basically all real security has known flaws when it's setup. However the difficulty in bypassing the security is considered to be higher than the reqard in doing so, if the security is good.
Like for example I ahve a Medeco lock, and we use the same kind all over campus. Medeco locks aren't like normal locks, they have a biaxial pin system that makes them a real bitch to pick. Also means normal key copiers can't handle their keys. On top of that, Medeco patents and dilligently controls key distribution. You can't, in theory, go and get a copy of a Medeco key made without being the authorized owner of the lock.
Well it's easy to find a way around that. Ignoring other ways in my house, one could simply bribe/corerce my roomate out of a key. While you couldn't easily copy it, the key itself would still be perfectly usable for getting in.
Why then, would I pay a premium price for this lock, if I know it's not perfect? Because it's better than most. It does mean that my roomates can't copy the key and hand it out to girlfirends or the like, and it'll take a lot more physical abuse than a normal lock. It isn't perfect, but it's better.
That's what you have to deal with in the world of physical security. You just try to design a system that it good enough to thwart whoever might want to circumvent it, make it not wroht their while. I mean realise that even if this had an uncrackable code on the keys, you can wire around it, given time and skill. The engine is still just started by a simple electrical connection. It's not easy to access what you need to make it happen, but it's easier than you might think.
Basically, I'd rather have a weak crypto key that's feasable to make than nothing at all. Most people aren't going to pay for an expensive seperate crypto unit that is physically fairly large, which is what you'd need to do strong crypto at this point. So put weak crypto in the key, which is still better than most cars (a screwdriver is about all one needs to override the key on my car) and it helps.
In some countries, car theft is not just something that happens occasionally - it's an industry. And as in all industries, there are the rank amatuers and the pro's - For the pro's, this looks like a good option.
:)
:)
Consider South Africa - an entire arms race grew up around car theft. First the thieves just took cars when they were parked, so the insurance companies insisted that everyone have alarms and immobilisers.
The thieves got around those pretty quick - rumour is that a lot of professional's signed up for work at installation centres, learnt their way around them, and went back to work.
Next step was the gearlock - a device that locks the gearstick into a specific gear. IIRC, you couldn't remove the key on the earlier units unless you had the gearlock in, and if your car was stolen, the insurance company insisted on seeing all 3 keys.
Now with cars being so hard to steal, the age of the hi-jack was ushered in. If they can't get your car while it's parked, they'll take it while it's roll rolling.
In response, anti hi-jack systems became the norm. I can't remember how it was activated, but basically the bad guys show up, you let them take the car, they roll 20 metres down the road and the car cuts out and an alarm starts going off.
Around the same time we also go Satellite tracking, although I seem to remember something about it actually using the cellular infrastructure (GSM) not satellite - I may be wrong on this. Initially, the recovery rate on stolen and hi-jacked cars went through the roof. Unfortunately, the bad guys just upped the stakes. Soon we started seeing more kidnappings and murders as part of hi-jacks because if you can't call the stolen car in, they have longer to chop it.
Many vehicles were stolen to order, and not just new cars. Older cars that were common on the road were often targetted, then broken for spares. Cars that you wouldn't normally think twice about were stolen for export to Botswana and Zimbabwe, because the availability of spares for these made them popular vehicles.
Of my close circle of family and friends, we have had at least 10 cars stolen. Of those, not a single one has been recovered, so it's not a huge risk occupation really
I'm willing to bet that if this flaw is used anywhere, it will be used in South Africa - it's just one more tool for the biggest growth industry around