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Car Thieves Arrested After Using Laptop and Malware to Steal More Than 30 Jeeps

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Re: Car Thieves Arrested After Using Laptop and Malware to Steal More Than 30 Jeeps

#71

Post by duaneb »

LeonM wrote: post #37

Every once in awhile one of these articles pop up on a news site. People (read: non-technical audience) seem to enjoy reading about a mysterious method of stealing a car, detecting your laptop/ipad in the trunk, tricking an ATM to give free money, hacking your phone, etc, etc. Reality is that this kind of theft never is as straightforward as the article tells you. In this case it required the thieves to break into th…

Breaking into a car isn't terribly difficult. My car you can get into with a tennis ball with a hole in it-place hole on lock and ram the ball. The hard part is typically not getting caught.

Re: Car Thieves Arrested After Using Laptop and Malware to Steal More Than 30 Jeeps

#72

Post by asimuvPR »

Unklejoe wrote: post #56
asimuvPR wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All modern cars have individual coil packs. The way to do it is to intercept the signal to the starter or to the fuel pumps. Both are accessible from the cabin. Older japanese cars are stolen due to the import tuner scene. The older hondas and nissans are easy to steal and sell in parts. A honda B18C engine still costs around $1000. This one is found in third generation acuda integras (gsr model). Even newer ones lik…

Yeah, a GSR around here doesn't last long before getting stolen. A type R is even shorter lived. People steal those for all sorts of parts. The first one that comes to mind is the 5 lug hubs.

I die a little every time a Type R gets stolen. They are amazing cars. Its awful when people use them to modify their lesser chassis.

Re: Car Thieves Arrested After Using Laptop and Malware to Steal More Than 30 Jeeps

#73

Post by dghughes »

duaneb wrote: post #71
LeonM wrote: post #37

Every once in awhile one of these articles pop up on a news site. People (read: non-technical audience) seem to enjoy reading about a mysterious method of stealing a car, detecting your laptop/ipad in the trunk, tricking an ATM to give free money, hacking your phone, etc, etc. Reality is that this kind of theft never is as straightforward as the article tells you. In this case it required the thieves to break into th…

Breaking into a car isn't terribly difficult. My car you can get into with a tennis ball with a hole in it-place hole on lock and ram the ball. The hard part is typically not getting caught.

That has been debunked. And debunked again recently.

http://www.snopes.com/can-unlock-car-door-tennis-ball/

Re: Car Thieves Arrested After Using Laptop and Malware to Steal More Than 30 Jeeps

#74

Post by deleted_soon »

jacquesm wrote: post #70
cdubzzz wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you watch the video in that article? It doesn't seem to line up at all with the text of the article, oddly. You see the guy for a moment and then the video skips forward and he's sitting in the Jeep with the alarm going off. The alarm appears to have been going for a good couple of minutes. Wouldn't popping the hood also require breaking a window or otherwise getting in the car to pull the release?

I think they have to have the key already, but still 'blank' That will likely open the door but it would normally raise the alarm, that's why they start under the hood first, to disable that. After that the procedure would be fairly easy: open the door with the still unlearned key, learn the new key ID to the ECU (takes One handy tip I got from the police after my own car got stolen (a VW transporter camper) was that…

Isn't it illegal to remove the VIN?

Re: Car Thieves Arrested After Using Laptop and Malware to Steal More Than 30 Jeeps

#75

Post by jakubp »

coryl wrote: post #28
jakubp wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do they not have equivalent of 2FA? What if these were nukes? "We are terribly sorry, Mister President. We did not expect them to steal the launch codes from the database. We will provide asylum for what's left of your country."

Why would Chrysler have nukes?

Meant as a parabole. If server access is that strong, could it be better protected by equivalent of 2 factor auth?

Re: Car Thieves Arrested After Using Laptop and Malware to Steal More Than 30 Jeeps

#76

Post by kaikai »

deleted_soon wrote: post #74
jacquesm wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they have to have the key already, but still 'blank' That will likely open the door but it would normally raise the alarm, that's why they start under the hood first, to disable that. After that the procedure would be fairly easy: open the door with the still unlearned key, learn the new key ID to the ECU (takes One handy tip I got from the police after my own car got stolen (a VW transporter camper) was that…

Isn't it illegal to remove the VIN?

That's why they said "mask off" instead of "file off". On some (many? all?) cars the VIN is stamped on a plate that's visible through the windshield.

Re: Car Thieves Arrested After Using Laptop and Malware to Steal More Than 30 Jeeps

#77

Post by kaikai »

exDM69 wrote: post #62
TamDenholm wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah i find it bizarre just how many automatics are in America, here in the UK, the only people who drive automatics are people who have difficulty mastering the skill of standard driving (ie a manual).

Where I'm from, you need to drive manual in driving school and pass the test. It's possible to do automatic only (e.g. for handicapped individuals) but then your license will have a remark forbidding you from driving manual. A synchronized manual gearbox (not heavy duty vehicle or a museum piece) is really easy to drive. One lesson to learn the basics and another for hill starts is enough. Then it's just a bit of pra…

I like manual for snowy/icy roads, but after a few miles stuck in a stop-and-go traffic jam I'm ready to have an automatic transmission back.

Re: Car Thieves Arrested After Using Laptop and Malware to Steal More Than 30 Jeeps

#78

Post by jacquesm »

deleted_soon wrote: post #74
jacquesm wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they have to have the key already, but still 'blank' That will likely open the door but it would normally raise the alarm, that's why they start under the hood first, to disable that. After that the procedure would be fairly easy: open the door with the still unlearned key, learn the new key ID to the ECU (takes One handy tip I got from the police after my own car got stolen (a VW transporter camper) was that…

Isn't it illegal to remove the VIN?

Here apparently it isn't if you mask it. That's not the same as removing it, but your local police might have a different opinion.

Whether or not it is effective is another matter (and that's hoping there is only one instance of the VIN on your car, there may be other, less obvious ones for instance bar-codes).

Re: Car Thieves Arrested After Using Laptop and Malware to Steal More Than 30 Jeeps

#79

Post by ComodoHacker »

ComodoHacker wrote: post #19

>That was the same story HPD heard over and over from several Jeep owners in the Houston area . Looks like this was their main mistake.

Not sure why downvotes. I just pointed out that it was stupid for the thieves to perform their series in one small area, with distinct hand, again and again, drawing police attention. Especially stupid for a hi-tech thieves.

Re: Car Thieves Arrested After Using Laptop and Malware to Steal More Than 30 Jeeps

#80

Post by vinceguidry »

dghughes wrote: post #73
duaneb wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Breaking into a car isn't terribly difficult. My car you can get into with a tennis ball with a hole in it-place hole on lock and ram the ball. The hard part is typically not getting caught.

That has been debunked. And debunked again recently. http://www.snopes.com/can-unlock-car-door-tennis-ball/

You can get into Ford Rangers of a certain year range by unscrewing the antenna and sticking it into little holes underneath the handle. You catch it on the lock rod and use friction to work it up. It was really helpful for me whenever I locked my keys in my truck. At first it takes awhile to get the trick of it, but by the time I traded it in, it only took me a few seconds.

I suppose I should have been worried that other people can do that too, but my truck never got broken into or stolen to my knowledge. Security through obscurity. I now drive a Mazda with key fob and push-button ignition. It's got its own vulnerabilities but I'll let the insurance company worry about that.

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