5 ms·

That is super cool. Not good, obviously. But super cool. I wish they had more than just a picture of it, like a video of it starting up or something - which I r

That is super cool. Not good, obviously. But super cool. I wish they had more than just a picture of it, like a video of it starting up or something - which I realize would be a bad idea. I feel like this should be addressed somehow from the manufacturer?

BuildTheRobots 5y ago
The hardware seems like the least interesting thing from my pov. Cramming an SDR and microcontroller/pi into any sort of box isn't rocket science. We don't even know if the screen works, but if it booted a playable GameBoy emulator then I'd be far more interested. Everything built into a cartridge that was bootable/playable with a stock GameBoy would really impress... The bigger question to me, is what they're broadcasting to manage this. A targeted MITM or replay attack is one thing, and they've been reported in the past. This device seems capable of brute forcing in seconds though; and if it's that easy, surely the manufacturer is culpable? Tangentially related to the first point, I wonder if there's any Android phone-type devices with a user programmable SDR built in. There used to be some handsets with analogue ham radios (2m/70cm) so smartphone+sdr seems the next logical step.
- jeroenhd 5y ago
  I'm not aware of any SDR smartphones for the commercial market. They'd be practically unsellable because of regulations anyway. I'm sure you can hide a small SDR board into something like a Pinephone, though. You don't need the entire frequency range, only the frequencies your targets use, so you can cut down significantly on complex parts.
- SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
  > Cramming an SDR and microcontroller/pi into any sort of box isn't rocket science. It's most likely protective camouflage. A young man holding what looks like a Nintendo device on the street will attract very little attention, whereas custom hardware might. In fact people might pay less attention to the holder. It's interesting, in the sense of the idea that if you want people to pay absolutely no attention to you, put on a high-vis vest and carry a clipboard.
- cjrp 5y ago
  I wondered if there was more to it than the article said; perhaps another device near the house relaying the keyless-entry signal to this Gameboy.
jeroenhd 5y ago
If the device really did look like a gameboy, my guess would be that the vendor has an easily brute-force able wireless authentication protocol. Several car manufacturers used to suffer from this for years, up to quite recently even. Modern, quality key systems have some protection against plain brute forceing, but there are many vehicles out there with known vulnerable locks and no way to fix them, at least not for free. I'm convinced that while the thefts are obviously the thiefs' fault, the manufacturers play a role in this and should be held partially accountable if their software is of the older type that consists of little more than a numeric code with no further protection, or if the exploit used is already known. Either way, a patch should be rolled out to all car owners to defeat these attacks because they undoubtedly happen elsewhere. Car manufacturers have bolted on wireless keying systems with no regards for security for decades now and it's time they should be held accountable for their defective systems.
- suifbwish 5y ago
  Almost every modern padlock and door lock can be picked in under 5 minutes by watching a 2 minute YouTube tutorial. Shouldn’t the manufacturers of the locks also be held responsible by that logic?
  - bradknowles 5y ago
    Yeah, they should. I’m looking at you, Masterlock.

BuildTheRobots 5y ago

The hardware seems like the least interesting thing from my pov. Cramming an SDR and microcontroller/pi into any sort of box isn't rocket science. We don't even know if the screen works, but if it booted a playable GameBoy emulator then I'd be far more interested. Everything built into a cartridge that was bootable/playable with a stock GameBoy would really impress... The bigger question to me, is what they're broadcasting to manage this. A targeted MITM or replay attack is one thing, and they've been reported in the past. This device seems capable of brute forcing in seconds though; and if it's that easy, surely the manufacturer is culpable? Tangentially related to the first point, I wonder if there's any Android phone-type devices with a user programmable SDR built in. There used to be some handsets with analogue ham radios (2m/70cm) so smartphone+sdr seems the next logical step.

jeroenhd 5y ago
I'm not aware of any SDR smartphones for the commercial market. They'd be practically unsellable because of regulations anyway. I'm sure you can hide a small SDR board into something like a Pinephone, though. You don't need the entire frequency range, only the frequencies your targets use, so you can cut down significantly on complex parts.
SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
> Cramming an SDR and microcontroller/pi into any sort of box isn't rocket science. It's most likely protective camouflage. A young man holding what looks like a Nintendo device on the street will attract very little attention, whereas custom hardware might. In fact people might pay less attention to the holder. It's interesting, in the sense of the idea that if you want people to pay absolutely no attention to you, put on a high-vis vest and carry a clipboard.
cjrp 5y ago
I wondered if there was more to it than the article said; perhaps another device near the house relaying the keyless-entry signal to this Gameboy.

jeroenhd 5y ago

If the device really did look like a gameboy, my guess would be that the vendor has an easily brute-force able wireless authentication protocol. Several car manufacturers used to suffer from this for years, up to quite recently even. Modern, quality key systems have some protection against plain brute forceing, but there are many vehicles out there with known vulnerable locks and no way to fix them, at least not for free. I'm convinced that while the thefts are obviously the thiefs' fault, the manufacturers play a role in this and should be held partially accountable if their software is of the older type that consists of little more than a numeric code with no further protection, or if the exploit used is already known. Either way, a patch should be rolled out to all car owners to defeat these attacks because they undoubtedly happen elsewhere. Car manufacturers have bolted on wireless keying systems with no regards for security for decades now and it's time they should be held accountable for their defective systems.

suifbwish 5y ago
Almost every modern padlock and door lock can be picked in under 5 minutes by watching a 2 minute YouTube tutorial. Shouldn’t the manufacturers of the locks also be held responsible by that logic?
- bradknowles 5y ago
  Yeah, they should. I’m looking at you, Masterlock.