- According to reports, a $ 199 piracy device is used to steal cars
- The specially developed patches allow thieves to exploit security vulnerabilities
- Generalized attacks have affected Kia and Hyundai models in the past
According to reports, a tiny orange and white device, which costs only $ 199 in the USA (around £ 150 / au $ 310), is used to remotely unlock modern vehicles.
An in -depth report of 404 Media discovered that underground computer pirates have developed and are now selling software patches that can be loaded on the device to unlock all types of cars, including those of the main brands such as Ford, Audi Volkswagen, Kia and many more.
The Flipper Zero is marketed as a “multiple geeks” and can be programmed to “explore any type of access control system, RFID, radio protocols and purification radio and hardware using GPIO pins (general use input/output)”, according to the company’s website. Previously it has been used for everything, from turning television channels in public places to confuse iPhones.
Like the widely informed ‘Kia Boys’, a band of adolescent computer pirates that gained notoriety to steal kias using only USB cables, the Flipper hack works when intercepting and cloning the key radio signal of a vehicle.
According to 404 average, underground computer pirates have developed a firmware that can be purchased for a rate between $ 600 and $ 1000, loaded on the device and then are used to unlock a variety of vehicles.
The patches are currently limited to simply open the vehicle, which presents their own risks, but the people mentioned in the report warn that they will not spend much time before they can develop to cancel any type of security system to begin and move away modern cars.
This fin is not so fabulous
This is not the first time that Flipper Zero has reached the headlines, since there is a complete reddit thread dedicated to jokes who remotely open Tesla’s charge ports with their devices.
The unit also reported on a youtuber that managed to hack its fin to change red to green traffic lights. In general, they are very good to highlight security vulnerabilities in many modern systems, but are often used by dire means.
A worrying example is to exploit a defect in current vehicles that increasingly avoid the relatively reliable key and blockade for elegant remote fobs.
Retransmission attacks have affected the tastes of Jaguar Land Rover in the past, with older rankings particularly vulnerable to attacks, which forces the owner’s insurance premiums through the roof.
In the United States, local police forces warned the owners of Kia and Hyundai to install death switches or resort to the steering locks after a 2022 Tik-Tok video revealed how easy it is to steal several vehicles of the brand.
As a result, groups like Kia Boys emerged online, filming themselves stealing cars for Internet views. Since then, a large number of imitators have followed their example and continue to cause problems.
Today’s automobile manufacturers have been busy urging security patches to try to improve customer confidence, but it seems that it is very difficult to stay at the forefront of computer pirates.
Currently, Flipper Zero patches have only sold a small number of users, but 404 Media warns that this could become a more widespread problem if they become open source or that they are free to download.
