Hang on to your CANbus... it's going to get real!!!

[PltFX4]

Auto theft by CANbus

Catalytic converter in one hand, CANbus in the other... oh the joy of vehicle ownership.

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[VAMike]

summary: techies get overexcited about imperfect design.

this is completely different from the good old days, when cars were impossible to steal. ?‍

 

[RedlandRanger]

summary: techies get overexcited about imperfect design.

this is completely different from the good old days, when cars were impossible to steal. ?‍

Well, that isn't totally incorrect, but to me the real message is "security gets the short end of the stick again" - in this day and age, having unencrypted messages flowing over the CAN bus is just stupid honestly..... Implicit trust (which is the flaw) has been the entry point for a TON of exploits.

 

[Trigganometry]

I think we’re all going to need driverless steering software so that when we get pinged our vehicle are stolen we can drive it at full throttle into a tree or bridge abutment after locking all the doors!

 

[VAMike]

Well, that isn't totally incorrect, but to me the real message is "security gets the short end of the stick again" - in this day and age, having unencrypted messages flowing over the CAN bus is just stupid honestly..... Implicit trust (which is the flaw) has been the entry point for a TON of exploits.

meh. in practical terms, "show encryption" wouldn't really add anything--managing keys for something deployed for decades isn't a solved problem. sensationalist stories aside, the real defense against car theft is the same as it's been for 100 years: the demand for stolen cars is so much smaller than the total size of the car market that a herd defense is sufficient. (some number will be stolen, but the replacement cost is lower than "perfect security" would be.)

 

[RedlandRanger]

Well, agree to disagree - security is important and will only become MORE important as time goes on. Bad actors will continue to exploit weaknesses and security gives them one more hurdle to get over. It isn't a solution in and of itself, but one of the pieces.

Its making them pick the lock instead of saying "the front door is locked but if you go around back, the door is open".

 

[VAMike]

Its making them pick the lock instead of saying "the front door is locked but if you go around back, the door is open".

Locks have costs. How many $1000s are you willing to add to the price of a car? Especially if it's almost certain there will be other ways to steal the car?

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