Can keyless entry be hacked?

[John Rethorst]

A month ago I bought a keyless remote for my '01 OBW and the service manager was
kind enough to program it for me. Last night my car was "prowled", as the
sheriff's office put it. No damage to the car or apparent attempt to steal it,
but stuff on the inside, including the glove box, was thrown around and a pair
of binoculars was missing. There was no sign of forced entry

I have no clear memory of locking the car yesterday evening. I also have no
clear memory of brushing my teeth last night, but I'm sure I did since I always
do; it's a deeply ingrained habit. So is my locking the car.

I'm wondering if I just forgot to lock it, or if the keyless entry can be
hacked. Is it possible/easy to do? Of course it shouldn't be, but I think I read
once that General Motors, at one point in its history, used only 35 key shapes
for all of its cars. Thus, if you wanted to steal a GM car and had a key for
one, you only had to try on average 35 GM cars before you could get into one.

Thanks,

 

[houndman]

A month ago I bought a keyless remote for my '01 OBW and the service manager was
kind enough to program it for me. Last night my car was "prowled", as the
sheriff's office put it. No damage to the car or apparent attempt to steal it,
but stuff on the inside, including the glove box, was thrown around and a pair
of binoculars was missing. There was no sign of forced entry

I have no clear memory of locking the car yesterday evening. I also have no
clear memory of brushing my teeth last night, but I'm sure I did since I always
do; it's a deeply ingrained habit. So is my locking the car.

I'm wondering if I just forgot to lock it, or if the keyless entry can be
hacked. Is it possible/easy to do? Of course it shouldn't be, but I think I read
once that General Motors, at one point in its history, used only 35 key shapes
for all of its cars. Thus, if you wanted to steal a GM car and had a key for
one, you only had to try on average 35 GM cars before you could get into one.

Thanks,

Don't know if GM only had 35 key shapes, but keys would fit
different cars. I once opened a 55' Chevy with a 62' key, and a friend
just told me, after out drinking, he woke up and the buckets seats in
his 62' Chevy had become bench seats. He drove home in someone elses
car that his key unlocked.

Recently heard that theives can intercept the wireless signal from a
keyless remote when you lock the car, and transmit it back later to
unlock it. They say it is happeing in mall lots.

VF

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

A month ago I bought a keyless remote for my '01 OBW and the service manager was
kind enough to program it for me. Last night my car was "prowled", as the
sheriff's office put it. No damage to the car or apparent attempt to steal it,
but stuff on the inside, including the glove box, was thrown around and a pair
of binoculars was missing. There was no sign of forced entry

I have no clear memory of locking the car yesterday evening. I also have no
clear memory of brushing my teeth last night, but I'm sure I did since I always
do; it's a deeply ingrained habit. So is my locking the car.

I'm wondering if I just forgot to lock it, or if the keyless entry can be
hacked. Is it possible/easy to do? Of course it shouldn't be, but I think I read
once that General Motors, at one point in its history, used only 35 key shapes
for all of its cars. Thus, if you wanted to steal a GM car and had a key for
one, you only had to try on average 35 GM cars before you could get into one.

Thanks,

Keyless entry but no alarm? Well, due to the frameless window, it can be
easy to slip a rod in and push the unlock button on many soobs. Closely
inspect the door gasketing for signs of this on driver and pass side.

Carl

 

[Todd H.]

I'm wondering if I just forgot to lock it, or if the keyless entry can be
hacked. Is it possible/easy to do? Of course it shouldn't be,

Like so many consumer items, rush to market functionality trumps
sanity and security almost every time.

There are keyless entry systems that used a fixed code and are very
vulnerable to replay attacks.

Dunno if yours is one of them, but as Carl correctly says, frameless
windows require far less of a hardware investment and are equally
effective.


Best Regards,

 

[Mikula Stein]

On Sat, 22 Sep 2007 11:23:45 -0700, John Rethorst wrote

<snip> if the keyless entry can be hacked.

Probably. Check out "a practical attack on KeeLoq"
<http://www.cosic.esat.kuleuven.be/keeloq>.

-- Mikula Stein

 

[Rod Spade]

See also:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/09/keeloq_broken.html