Slashdot Mirror
Mobil SpeedPass, Various Car RFID Car Keys Cracked
44BSD writes "Crypto-enabled RFID products, including Mobil SpeedPass and various car keys, have been defeated utterly by Avi Rubin, et. al. Details are at rfidanalysis.org. An academic paper is also available."
I'm probably going to get modded into oblivion for saying this.... But why don't people just not read dupes? I mean, it's not really hurting you that it's there...and some of us didn't see the first one, but see the second one. It just doesn't seem worth complaining over.
Before you mod me funny, think, perhaps I was insightfully funny?
The electronic keys from Mercedes are a good example of this done right. The key has an IR transceiver at it's head that exchanges one time codes with the car when the driver begins turning it. The received code is saved for next time and can't be intercepted without getting physically between the head of the key and the transceiver inside the lock. Even then, an intercepted code would have to be used before the victim returned to his car. Who is going to do a complicated install of capture equipment into a fortified lock at location A and then follow the victim to location B to steal the car? It's just far too conspicuous.
Mercedes overhauled security, rather than tacking on a secure by being obscure layer to the existing crackable standard - TI Immobilizer systems don't require advanced physical access, just proximity to the key at least an hour before the moment of a heist. Even worse, once the key is cracked it won't change either, so criminals can wait to strike and further avoid notice. Just wait till a tiny RFID scanner and a usable cracking program show up in the black market. A laid off engineer has too much potential to make dough with the ideas that have been released. The program could even do distributed processing on a broadcast LAN or via P2P.
Now someone is probably going to point out that they'll be laughing when the fancy Mercedes key runs out of batteries and leaves its owner stranded, but this isn't the case. The key can receive power from the car despite not having any visible metal contacts - likely because there is a coil embedded in the plastic key that will get power inductively when the key is inserted - without any wires [slashdot.org]. It's news on slashdot, but it's been shipping since 1997, and much longer before that for other applications.
As if that weren't it, the key doubles as an RF remote for locking/unlocking doors, popping the trunk, and a panic function. But wait there's more - the IR transciever portion of the key, when aimed at the driver door can open, close, or place anywhere in between all the side windows and sunroof at once. Great for getting into the car on a hot day or sealing up all the windows as you leave. Impressive what they they've put usably into a key, albeit oversized.
Finally, despite using a radically different model, Mercedes cleverly applied the familiar form and usage pattern of the existing standard to bridge it with the new one - a nice touch for user comfort without any compromise to security. Well engineered indeed.
This story is similar to the car key RFID system being cracked but if you look carefully the content is actually different and provides a more technical perspective to the situation. The other one was fluff compared to this. People here need to stop being so nit-picky because I find that most of these "duplicated" articles are informative and contain interesting content that I would have not seen otherwise.