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Car Thieves Arrested After Using Laptop and Malware to Steal More Than 30 Jeeps
- my_first_acct 10y agoMore details from this article: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Police-Suspects-used-laptops-to-steal-cars-in-9123735.php http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/a... Quote: Berj Alexanian, a spokesman with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, said officials know how the Jeep Wrangler was stolen. According to Alexanian, the thief broke into the vehicle and used a laptop to enter its VIN number in order to access the Chrysler database. Dealerships, repair facilities and locksmiths are usually the only ones allowed access to the database, which provides the code for key fob access. Once the thief enters the VIN number, he can re-program the car's computer so it will accept a generic key fob. The car will then start, and the thief is able to drive off.
- WiseWeasel 10y agoAlso from WSJ, which isn't behind a paywall for me: http://www.wsj.com/articles/thieves-go-high-tech-to-steal-cars-1467744606 http://www.wsj.com/articles/thieves-go-high-tech-to-steal-ca...
- TwoBit 10y agoSo they had unauthorized access to the Chrysler servers. Possibly via a stolen laptop. Seems too easy.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- duskwuff 10y ago"And malware"? Sounds like the only piece of software involved was the one the thieves were using, and it was doing exactly what it was supposed to.
- adrianN 10y agoMalware also does exactly what's it supposed to do.
- hacksonx 10y agoYep. It just has malicious intent, but that's the intent.
- dagurp 10y agoI decided to look for the definition of malware and found several. I think I like Webster's the most. "software designed to interfere with a computer's normal functioning".
- CPLX 10y agoThat was surprisingly profound.
- icantdrive55 10y agoIf your poor, like myself, and want to slow down a car thief, put in a kill switch. Run the proper gague wire from the primary on the coil to a switch in the cab. The primary wires are the small wires on the coil. (I can't think of any reason the ECU would throw a trouble code.) It gets more complicated if you have a separate distributor running to each cylinder, but there's always a point in the electrical system you can splice into, like the starting system. When completed, just get onto the habit of turning the switch on off, and on. (I have noticed a lot of old Japanese vehicles being stolen in the Bay Area. Go figure?)
- _Adam 10y agoIt would easier in a newer car to interrupt one of the leads to/from the ECU, which is already located in the cabin. There's so many electrical systems in a modern car; interrupt just one and it's going nowhere.
- a3n 10y ago> (I have noticed a lot of old Japanese vehicles being stolen in the Bay Area. Go figure?) Parts? Old Japanese cars are still on the road, running well. My son is driving my original purchase 1990 Honda.
- Niten 10y ago> Old Japanese cars are still on the road, running well. My son is driving my original purchase 1990 Honda. I recently moved out to the Bay Area from south Florida, and one thing that really struck me was how many y2k-ish cars were on the road looking practically new. I think it's mostly a matter of climate. I would have loved to keep my 2000 Integra on the road, but the unholy combination of Florida's sun and humidity brought an early death to its paint, body, grommets and bushings. In contrast, I regularly see Integras in the Bay Area that look as though they could have rolled out of the factory five years ago.
- DaiPlusPlus 10y agoMy theory for that is different construction materials: cars built in the 1970s and 1980s become rust-buckets quite easily - but cars built after the mid-1990s use considerably better bodywork materials that don't need specialist care to maintain, especially a lot more plastic. I drive a 2013 Ford Focus and the entire front assembly is plastic - no way that's going to rust or corrode. I'm almost looking forward to selling it for a good price after the warranty expires.
- SNvD7vEJ 10y ago"used pirated software" So they did not pay for the crack tools they used? Bastards!
- ComodoHacker 10y agoMaybe it was some special diagnostics software they stole from Chrysler first?
- coleca 10y agoPoor thrives didn't k is what they got themselves into. They thought if caught they'd go away for simple auto theft. Now they will probably get charged with hacking (unauthorized use of a computer) under the CFAA and go away for a lot longer. When I started writing this I was joking but the more you think about it there's a good chance they do get charged under the CFAA.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- JumpCrisscross 10y agoWe presume manufacturers of self-driving cars, or at least their fleet operators, will be liable for their coding mistakes. Why isn't Fiat-Chrysler responsible for the cost of this car?
- krapht 10y agoThis mentality is so weird to me. The thief is liable. And I'm happy it is this way, otherwise 3rd party locksmiths and garages wouldn't be able to work on your car.
- zaroth 10y agoInterestingly the law strikes a decent balance here. For example, the FTC can sue a company for 'unfair and deceptive business practices'. Exposing cars to insta-theft because you didn't secure your backend database could fall in that category. Companies do have a duty of care if they are holding the keys to the castle, be it the keys to your car, or keys to your email or financials; they have to take reasonable precautions to protect the data, commensurate with the quantity and sensitivity of the data, and the cost and availability of technology to protect that data.
- ComodoHacker 10y ago>That was the same story HPD heard over and over from several Jeep owners in the Houston area. Looks like this was their main mistake.
- ComodoHacker 10y agoNot sure why downvotes. I just pointed out that it was stupid for the thieves to perform their series in one small area, with distinct hand, again and again, drawing police attention. Especially stupid for a hi-tech thieves.
- alexmaras 10y agoI think people thought you meant owning a Jeep in the Houston area was a mistake
- NKCSS 10y agoUntill the key generation scheme is cracked and it turns out to be md5 of the vin and use the last 10 keys (a la how wpa keys are generated for modems); now all you need is a smartphone, blank key and programmer and all cars of that brand can be easily stolen. But it could be worse; BMW had a alarm systeem that would not go off if one of the front Windows were smashed; programmer hooked to the cambus allowed you to create a working key and drive off in under a minute...
- LeonM 10y agoEvery once in awhile one of these articles pop up on a news site. People (read: non-technical audience) seem to enjoy reading about a mysterious method of stealing a car, detecting your laptop/ipad in the trunk, tricking an ATM to give free money, hacking your phone, etc, etc. Reality is that this kind of theft never is as straightforward as the article tells you. In this case it required the thieves to break into the car first, then reprogram the key. The thief can't just walk up to the car and type some magic commands on a laptop and drive of. It requires him to break the lock/door/glass to get in first. That's about the same as how car theft was done in the early years: break in, hotwire the ignition, (bump)start the car. This "new" method even requires more time than hotwiring, so car manufacturers did actually make their cars harder to steal in some sense...
- jacquesm 10y ago> It requires him to break the lock/door/glass to get in first. They pop the hood, apparently. http://www.khou.com/news/crime/high-tech-thieves-crooks-using-computers-to-steal-cars/251871053 http://www.khou.com/news/crime/high-tech-thieves-crooks-usin... The rest is all 'digital', no further use of force required.
- cdubzzz 10y agoDid you watch the video in that article? It doesn't seem to line up at all with the text of the article, oddly. You see the guy for a moment and then the video skips forward and he's sitting in the Jeep with the alarm going off. The alarm appears to have been going for a good couple of minutes. Wouldn't popping the hood also require breaking a window or otherwise getting in the car to pull the release?
- MertsA 10y agoDepending on the car the hood can be released from underneath but it's a massive pain and requires contorting arms in unnatural ways.
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- syphilis2 10y agoI would love to be able to do this on my own car to reprogram spare keys myself without having to visit the dealership.
- scottcanoni 10y ago"Pirated software" is not the right term to use in this case.