Millions of cars sold Volkswagen AG during last 2 decades, and some existing models, are vulnerable to theft because keyless entry systems can be hacked using low-cost technical devices, as per European researchers.
Computer system security professionals at the University of Birmingham have released a paper describing how they had the ability to clone Volkswagen remote keyless entry controls by eavesdropping nearby when drivers press their essential fobs to open or lock up their vehicles.
Automobiles vulnerable to this attack consist of most Audi, Volkswagen, Seat and Skoda designs offered since 1995 and a lot of the roughly 100 million Volkswagen Group vehicles on the road from that time, the researchers stated. The flaw was discovered in vehicle designs as recent as the Audi Q3, design year 2016, they stated.
“It is conceivable that all VW Group (apart from some Audi) automobiles produced in the past and partially today rely on a ‘constant-key’ plan and are therefore vulnerable to the attacks,” the paper stated.
The only exception were vehicles developed on Volkswagen’s latest MQB production platform, which is used in its top selling design, the Golf VII, which the scientists discovered does not have the flaw.
A Volkswagen representative said that its present Golf, Tiguan, Touran and Passat models are not at danger from the attack.
“This current vehicle generation is not affected by the problems explained,” Volkswagen spokesman Peter Weisheit said in a statement, without talking about the threats to other models.
In their paper, the researchers did not determine the automobile parts subcontractor that makes the afflicted keyless systems for Volkswagen and potentially other vehicle makers. Volkswagen refused to discuss its provider relationships.
Garcia and co-author David Oswald, likewise a speaker at Birmingham University, are arranged to present their paper at the Usenix security conference in Austin, Texas, on Friday.
The disclosures come as Europe’s biggest car manufacturer struggles to conquer its biggest-ever corporate scandal, after it admitted to controlling diesel emissions tests in about 11 million vehicles worldwide.
