100 million Volkswagens can be unlocked by new remote device
New remote device can unlock 100 million Volkswagens
If you’ve bought a Volkswagen in the last 20 years the chances of becoming a victim of remote car jamming just got bigger!
Also read: Car jamming device warns you when thieves try to block your remote
A computer scientist and a team of researchers have discovered how to remotely unlock and drive millions of Volkswagen cars without a key.
Their findings would have been released two years ago had they not been hit with a lawsuit which delayed the publication of their research. However during the delay, computer scientist Flavio Garcia and his team continued to research and discover more of VW’s faults.
According to a report by Wired, the research shows exactly how vulnerable VW vehicles are while a new remote device can not only start up their ignitions, but can unlock the vehicle’s doors to allow entry.
What’s more worrying is that the keyless device works on almost every VW vehicle sold since 1995.
These attacks use easily available and cheap radio hardware that interferes with a vehicle owner’s key fob and allows for easy cloning of the key.
“The cost of the hardware is small, and the design is trivial,” said Garcia. “You can really build something that functions exactly like the original remote.”
If thieves get hold of the hack, millions of VW vehicle’s could be targets.
Source: Wired