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When Your Used Car Is a Little Too ‘Mobile’

krebsonsecurity.com

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Re: When Your Used Car Is a Little Too ‘Mobile’

#41

Post by scarejunba »

correct_horse wrote: post #24
freepor wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Certainly your 1980s SUV is certainly the thing most likely to be the location of your death, unless you’re older than ~70.

The same could be said of any 2020 SUV. Cars are dangerous.

New cars are way safer than the ones from the 1980s, though. In just a risk-minimization strategy I prefer a new car with Alexa over a forty year old car without.

The privacy risk is low with the new one, but the death risk is high with the old one.

Rolled my car and I just crawled out of the wreck and walked away with a mild concussion.

Re: When Your Used Car Is a Little Too ‘Mobile’

#42

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

gumby wrote: post #38
kube-system wrote: post #2

Yikes. This is a serious safety issue. Imagine if this wasn’t an EV, and someone started a car while in the new owner’s garage.

Fortunately it’s almost impossible to kill yourself by running the car in the garage any more.

Why is that?

Re: When Your Used Car Is a Little Too ‘Mobile’

#43

Post by leni536 »

river99 wrote: post #17
tyho wrote: post #13

BMW is also massively insecure. My "secret token" I had to enter on my phone to link it with the car was the VIN number. That number is physically stamped into the engine block and chassis so obviously cannot be changed, even after I sell the car. I also suspect these numbers are sequential. Till this car is scrapped I will be able to locate it, turn on the AC, unlock the doors etc.

Also visible through the windshield from the outside.

>Can unlock the door.

>Visible through the windshield

Interesting.

Re: When Your Used Car Is a Little Too ‘Mobile’

#44

Post by kop316 »

reaperducer wrote: post #34
ReptileMan wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't you just cut the antenna? Or just improvise a Faraday cage around it.

Good luck finding it. And then, good luck getting to it.

While a pain, it isn't impossible. There will be an FCC ID that it has (due to transmitting receiving). Based on that device, you at least know what to look for (a PCI card? An entire board? an Antenna?).

Since FCC testing is expensive, I would not doubt that many manufacturers just make one card to install into multiple cars (to lower the FCC testing cost). That would be the best case, as all you need to do is find and remove that card.

Re: When Your Used Car Is a Little Too ‘Mobile’

#45

Post by dillonmckay »

h2odragon wrote: post #22

I'm thankful our 2004 & 2002 cars are as free of "smart" as they are. They're aging out on us and we've been looking at replacements; the used market is contaminated with screens and systems that we DO NOT WANT. I wonder how difficult it will be to strip all that shit out when the time comes. What's going to have to be stubbed out or emulated to make the car run and how difficult will that be? Are we looking at thing…

Yeah, I really don’t like anything newer than 2009 in terms of the electronics integrations.

My next purchase, I am considering either a 2008 Lexus GX470 or a Tesla Model Y.

Re: When Your Used Car Is a Little Too ‘Mobile’

#46

Post by vearwhershuh »

freepor wrote: post #21
vearwhershuh wrote: post #4

The issue here isn't that this guy can see and control the the vehicle without the next owner knowing. It's that the entire corporate world and government can see and control the vehicle without the next owner knowing. This is increasingly true across the board, regardless of trim level. I was excited about Rivian as a family friendly electric vehicle. Then they decided to add Alexa (due to an investment by Amazon) a…

Certainly your 1980s SUV is certainly the thing most likely to be the location of your death, unless you’re older than ~70.

Only if your 1980s SUV is capable of reaching speeds that might kill you.

I will simply be maimed horribly and die later in the hospital, screaming "AT LEAST MY DEATH WASN'T TRACKED BY ALEXA".

I am, on balance, comfortable with this fate.

Alexa: His death was, in fact, tracked by Alexa

Re: When Your Used Car Is a Little Too ‘Mobile’

#47

Post by randyrand »

tzs wrote: post #8

There are enough street labels visible on the map of the car location in the screenshot from the myford site to figure out where that is. I was kind of surprised the article did not obfuscate that. It looks like it is at one of these businesses in Milford, CT: Stevens Ford Lincoln, Stevens Ford of Milford, Steven's Collision Center, or Colony Ford. I wonder if one of those Ford dealers is the dealer that failed to do…

Why? For fun, here is a location to a random house in the bay. 37.351019, -122.035565.

Location alone doesn't mean much.

Re: When Your Used Car Is a Little Too ‘Mobile’

#48

Post by H1Supreme »

h2odragon wrote: post #22

I'm thankful our 2004 & 2002 cars are as free of "smart" as they are. They're aging out on us and we've been looking at replacements; the used market is contaminated with screens and systems that we DO NOT WANT. I wonder how difficult it will be to strip all that shit out when the time comes. What's going to have to be stubbed out or emulated to make the car run and how difficult will that be? Are we looking at thing…

Part of the reason I've been learning about embedded systems is so I can take these sorts of things into my own hands. I do not want a car with WI-FI, and I especially don't wait it attached to anything that makes my car move (or stop).

Re: When Your Used Car Is a Little Too ‘Mobile’

#49

Post by tbyehl »

LinuxBender wrote: post #19
nkrisc wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On many (all?) modern cars it's also visible at the bottom of driver's side of the windshield. A car's VIN is public information.

I have a small piece of black paper over mine. I am happy to let a law enforcement officer view it if they ask.

Not illegal per se, but you're handing cops PC to enter your car to move the paper and any further evidence of "crime" they can see while doing that is fair game.

Re: When Your Used Car Is a Little Too ‘Mobile’

#50

Post by juskrey »

reaperducer wrote: post #33
river99 wrote: post #3

First thing I do in any rental car is turn off any remote tracking, mobile apps, clear out bluetooth and turn off wifi if equipped.

First thing I do in any rental car is turn off any remote tracking, mobile apps, clear out bluetooth and turn off wifi if equipped. The first thing I do when I rent a car is adjust the mirrors and the seat, and then get out of the airport as quickly as I can. I might think about resetting stuff when I get to the hotel, but if I'm renting a car I have better things to do with my life. I doubt that even 1% of the peopl…

Rental car GPS is pretty much one of the few tracking things I actually want to be there. It makes my rental MUCH cheaper and road help much better. If you need to hide from the radars, chose another method of transportation.
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