Just How Secure Is That Remote Car Lock

                                 

Cars of these days come with keys embedded with a remote control feature called a remote key fob.

It is used to either gain or restrict access to a vehicle within a distance of about 20 feet between the vehicle and the key fob.I am very sure minds like mine have often wondered if this lock can be hacked into. If your remote lock is hacked by someone with sinister motives, of course the outcome can be very disastrous. FHB is here to critically analyse this scenario.

A wireless device emits wireless signals at a certain frequency to a device described as the receiver. This receiver is embedded with an antenna and is programmed to operate at the same frequency as that which the wireless device transmits so that it can receive the signals. 

In the case of a car, the key fob transmits the signal at a programmed frequency while the car is embedded with an antenna that receives the signal at the same frequency. It should also be noted that the lock system is also programmed with a rolling code by the manufacturer such that this code changes each time a signal is emitted between the fob and the car.

For the purpose of this write-up, we shall borrow a leaf from the test carried out by Silvio Cesare. In this test, he used a ‘software defined radio’ which is a device that can digitally emit or pick up a wide band of frequencies from frequency modulated(FM) signals to Bluetooth signals to Wi-fi signals. A laptop, an antenna and an amplifier were also used alongside this radio. With these devices, he was able to transmit a signal at the same frequency as that transmitted by the car key fob. Gaining access to a frequency the car lock understands, he then was able to perform a “brute force” attack which is simply a process of cycling through thousands of code guesses till he found the one that successfully unlocked the car. The duration of this hack varies, depending on how complex the rolling code of the lock system of the car is. It may vary from minutes to even hours.

If you feel a little disappointed, please know no technology is entirely water-proof. Manufacturers just keep thinking up ways to reduce instances of failure. We at FHB just decided to bring to your consciousness this “tech-Tuesday” this fact and so the next time you may decide to park your car and flaunt that swagged-up remote lock, do ensure you are comfortable with the surrounding and do not let your guard down. Feel free to drop your comments and contributions.

For mobile phones,

Follow us on twitter @Frozenhuman1

Subscribe to our BBM channel at C00295B9E

Like our facebook page at www.facebook.com/FrozenHumanBlog

For laptops and tabs, simply click on the like button on the right to like our facebook page and click on @frozenhuman1 directly below the Facebook box to follow us on Twitter.