Millions of cars could be tracked and unlocked by a hidden security flaw

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ZoWie
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Millions of cars could be tracked and unlocked by a hidden security flaw

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Your new car might be hackable. Some dealers like to install car alarms on all vehicles. If you pay, they enable it. If you don't your car stays hackable anyway.

https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/bugs/ ... lionofcars
Millions of cars could be tracked and unlocked by a hidden security flaw

The device is the KARR Security System, a Bluetooth-enabled aftermarket alarm built by Acrisure Protection Group. It’s installed by dealers, primarily at Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Ford, and Jeep dealerships in Southern California.

Aftermarket car alarms are a strange corner of the auto industry. Dealers install them in your car before you ever see the vehicle, then try to sell you the subscription afterward. Say no and the hardware still stays put. According to researchers at the University of California San Diego, KARR systems are installed in about 2.2 million American vehicles, and around half of owners don’t even know they’re there.

[...]

Every KARR device shares the same authentication key, and it’s stored in plain text inside the KARR smartphone app. Extract it once and you can communicate with any KARR-equipped vehicle made since 2017. That is what the researchers did.
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