There's an app for stealing your car

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/01/got-an-ipod-want-to-steal-some-cars/

Discuss, while I go pat my Megasquirted car and my CIS-E car on their cute little tech-free heads...

Did you actually read that article or just stop at the headline?

What cars are they testing? Certainly new ones, I'm sure, but can even modern cars join IRC channels?

The more I learn about new cars the more I don't want another one.

The referenced paper says they developed a protocol which simply overwhelmed the car's anti theft programming and thus were able to open and start a car via wireless, then they were able to drive it back and forth. The only thing which would prevent actual theft was the steering lock which they said was easily defeated with a screwdriver.

This makes you wonder just exactly what was behind that Lexus crash that triggered the Toyota acceleration recall. Perhaps it had nothing at all to do with the car but rather an electronic device on the person of one of the occupants. Based on what these guys have done, it's conceiveable that a wireless signal from something unintentionally triggered something in the car's programming.

There was an article a while back which said that basically people were pissed at their cars because they had trouble pairing their latest and greatest electronic toy to it, the reason given was that car entertainment system upgrades and improvements are on roughly a 2 year cycle but phones etc are on roughly a 6 month cycle, meaning by the time a car hits the market it's already outdated. So the manufacturers have gone to systems which can easily be upgraded to accomodate newer technology. That could conceiveably be an easy hack pathway into a two or three year old car.

I likes my old dumb cars. If car thieves get lazier and don't want to do any physical labor or get their hands dirty, they are less likely to want to bother with busting steering locks and hotwiring ignitions. That will, in the future, make them less vulnerable to theft.

Curmudgeon wrote: The referenced paper says they developed a protocol which simply overwhelmed the car's anti theft programming and thus were able to open and start a car via wireless, then they were able to drive it back and forth. The only thing which would prevent actual theft was the steering lock which they said was easily defeated with a screwdriver.

And there are lots of cars nowadays that don't even have that, just a wireless keyfob...

They specifically mentioned that. Their test car had an RFID chip in the key, all kinds of stuff, and it seems the fob types have an electronic computer controlled solenoid to lock the steering. Meaning once it starts it automatically unlocks the steering.

i know it's not "high tech", but i did a test on the '02 Silverado 2500HD 4X4 that i bought brand new. the door lock was easily popped open with a Slim Jim, the steering on it wouldn't lock until you turned it over a full turn each way, and you could just shift the transfer case into neutral and the truck would coast.. you might not be able to drive it away, but you could certainly pull it with something or let the $27,000 truck coast silently down a hill to a waiting tow dolly or whatever.

at least my trusty old 87 GMC has a steering wheel that locks at about 20 different positions, so you aren't going to get more than about 1/8 of a turn out of it. turn the wheel a full turn either way before shutting the key off and the truck will only be able to coast in a rather large circle...

I have walked out to my car and hit the unlock button on my remote only to have the car next to me do something, even if it's only flash the lights.

They're gonna have to steal mine the old fashioned way, I don't even have wireless entry (which I do miss but I can certainly live without).

Just buy a stick shift. 85% of thieves in this country (as in the general population) can't drive anything but an automatic anyway !

http://jalopnik.com/5864836/not-only-are-manual-transmissions-awesome-theyre-a-theft-deterrent

http://jalopnik.com/manual-transmission

Curmudgeon wrote: http://jalopnik.com/5864836/not-only-are-manual-transmissions-awesome-theyre-a-theft-deterrent http://jalopnik.com/manual-transmission

all i got out of the first link was "45 year old man and his 23 year old girlfriend"..

right on..

i wonder what the average carjacker would think if the car they were jacking had a 3-on-the-tree..

novaderrik wrote: i wonder what the average carjacker would think if the car they were jacking had a 3-on-the-tree..

When I was about 14, my father bought a crappy old '64 Chevy pickup with three on the tree. One day, my older brother attempted to move it because it was blocking in his MGB. He got in and said, "How the hell do you drive this? I thought it was an automatic."

I didn't mind moving it for him.

On a related note, you could start that truck with any key. Even a screwdriver.

I'd love for my truck get stolen, as long as they strip it/total it, or is never found.