Researchers once again hack a Tesla Model S key fob

Owners of one Tesla model should maybe stop relying on just their key fob to unlock their car.
Researchers at Belgium University KU Leuven have reported that they've again successfully bypassed the keyless entry system of a Tesla Model S.
The team first announced their ability to unlock a Model S with a cloned key fob last September. But, on Tuesday, the university's Lennert Wouters presented evidence that they had managed to exploit a bug that bypassed Tesla's patch of that initial weakness, again allowing access to a locked Model S.
According to Wouters, it's a configuration bug in the encryption of the key fob, which is produced by electronics company Pektron, that would allow a hacker to crack the code by breaking only a little bit more sweat than previously required.
Reports Wired:
Despite Tesla and Pektron's upgrade from easily broken 40-bit encryption in the previous versions to far more secure 80-bit encryption in the newer key fobs—a doubling of the key length that ought to have made cracking the encryption about a trillion times harder—the bug allows hackers to reduce the problem to simply cracking two 40-bit keys. That shortcut makes finding the key only twice as hard as before.
Tesla told Wired that there's no evidence that anyone has successfully used this hack to steal a Model S (the hack doesn't affect other models since they use different key fobs). The company has already rolled out an easy-to-implement software update that fixes the issue and wirelessly updates the key fob in just a few minutes.
A spokesperson for Tesla told Mashable via email:
“While nothing can prevent against all vehicle thefts, Tesla has deployed several security enhancements, such as PIN to Drive, that makes them much less likely to occur. Even though we are not aware of a single customer ever affected by the reported issue, and enabling PIN to Drive already prevents this from occurring, we’ve begun to release an over-the-air software update (part of 2019.32) that addresses this researcher’s findings and allows certain Model S owners to update their key fobs inside their car in less than 2 minutes. We believe that neither of these options would be possible for any other automaker to release to existing owners, given our unique ability to roll out over-the-air updates that improve the functionality and security of our cars and key fobs.”
Additionally, Tesla's PIN-code-to-drive feature, once enabled by the driver, can prevent this sort of theft from occurring by allowing the driver to set a four-digit code that must be entered before the car can be driven.
It's not the first time a Tesla has been at the center of fob vulnerabilities. A video that circulated in the fall of 2018 purports to show a thief using a relay attack to steal a Model S. As we reported then, the thieves amplified "the signal from the car owner's key fob (located inside his home) in order to trick the vehicle into thinking the fob was present."
And yet another video claiming to show a similar relay attack theft was shared by Business Insider earlier this month.
To be fair, as Jalopnik notes, this sort of relay attack isn't unique to Tesla; it's a vulnerability that affects just about any car that utilizes a key fob. Our own Jack Morse showed you how to protect your car from such a relay attack back in 2017.
Tesla's popularity and name-recognition just bring more attention even as the Model S is one of the least-stolen cars, according to one study. Disabling Tesla's "passive entry" feature should prevent such a relay attack and its Sentry Mode offers another layer of security.
And, like the other theft attempts, these can be prevented by the added protection layer that comes with the PIN-to-drive feature which you should definitely enable, lest you allow your really, really expensive new ride to fall prey to some wily thieves.
source mashable
Industry: Cyber Security

Latest Jobs
-
- Lead Cyber Security Incident Response Consultant.
- United Kingdom
- N/A
-
Seeking skilled and passionate UK-based individual for a Lead Cyber Security Incident Response Consultant opportunity 3 core skillsets for the role Hands on technical incident response (triage and planning). Business consultancy (engaging with clients). Commercial awareness. Being able to engage in business growth conversations. Consultancy experience is an essential as it the ability to visit clients and the office. Additional experience will include, but not be limited to: Developing incident response strategies, guides and procedures for effective incident handling Proactive and reactive defense plans based on cyber threat actors' techniques Offering guidance, supervision, and fostering opportunities for team development Significant career development opportunities for the right individuals.
-
- OUTSIDE IR35 Contract- Functional tester- SC clearance Microsoft Windows Server
- London
- Outside IR35 contract
-
Front End Functional tester with SC clearance needed for an Outside IR35 project. Current valid SC clearance is required Experience with functional testing with exchange, sharepoint, SQL and other applications relating across a windows server Migration to 2019. Must be able to get to Central London 3 days a week. Jira, Wiki documentation and automation experience highly desirable.
-
- ForgeRock Consultant- UK
- United Kingdom
- Upto £100,000 plus benefits
-
ForgeRock Consultant/ Architect is require for niche consultancy who are looking to expand their presence within the UK/European Market Looking for a lead IAM architect, ideally with ForgeRock experience but would consider other vendors, But looking for someone who is able to advice and consultant with Clients but have the implementation background so they can get involved in projects as and when needed. Key duties will be: Provider IAM consultancy to clients, with a focus on ForgeRock Product stack ·Responsible for the design and implementation of ForgeRock solutions ·Install and configure ForgeRock stack to meet customer authentication and authorization requirements, ·Design and implement OAuth2 protocol using ForgeRock OpenAM, ·Design and develop OpenAM custom authentication modules, ·Configure ForgeRock stack to protect RESTful API, ·Troubleshoot and support ForgeRock IAM stack. This is a great role to join a niche play as they look to kick of their European expansion
-
- ForgeRock Consultant- Netherlands
- Netherlands
- N/A
-
ForgeRock Consultant required for 6 Month Contract This will be a mix of on site and home based, so need people to be based in the Netherlands We are looking for a lead ForgeRock Technical Consultant/ Architect with strong experience of ForgeRock to lead a new deployment project. ·Responsible for the design and implementation of ForgeRock stack ·Install and configure ForgeRock stack to meet customer authentication and authorization requirements, ·Design and implement OAuth2 protocol using ForgeRock OpenAM, ·Design and develop OpenAM custom authentication modules, ·Configure ForgeRock stack to protect RESTful API, ·Troubleshoot and support ForgeRock IAM stack. ·Designed and developed Restful APIs, This is a great project with an expanding leading IAM player within Europe, We are looking for someone with the above experience, who is comfortable hitting the ground running and taking on the reins at the start of a project