Something that piqued my interest earlier in my cybersecurity studies was wireless attacks on vehicles. A friend reached out claiming her car had been broken into, sans keys. And… she had video of it. I had heard the reports and I had read a few articles. But I had never had a chance to see it, start to finish, unedited.
At the time I talked to some more experienced folks to get answers.
But I always wanted to know more.
So, here we are.
This write-up covers Remote Keyless Entry Systems, the common attacks against them, a few other wireless attack vectors, and some advancing security measures that are both implemented and proposed.
Please enjoy my first paper, and feel free to give me any constructive feedback.
You can find it HERE!
If you want to see the speed of a wireless attack in action, here it is:
*This is presumed to be a Relay Attack, with only the adversary closer to the car being visible.*
From the Perspective of the Vehicle Owner’s Front Door Security System, in SECONDS:
0:01: Attacker checking random door handles
0:02:50 – 0:03:00 : Light shines on victim’s car, indicating target
0:03:00 – 0:04:50 : Light begins flashing within compromised vehicle
0:05:00 – 0:06:00 : Attacker notices compromised vehicle
Attacker walks across street
0:12:00 : Attacker opens door
0:14:00 – 0:14:50 : Attacker Enters Vehicle
0:16:00 : Door closes. And you’d never know they were stealing it…
INTERESTING NOTE: at about 0:12:50, when the door is halfway open, a security light slightly down the block seems to de-auth and begin flashing. I haven’t had a chance to deep dive wireless security systems yet to see if they have any shared frequencies with standard vehicle key fobs, but I might do a deep dive on this at a later date to check for commonalities between the two devices
Signing Off,
Eli
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