The court forbade the publication of launch codes for luxury cars
A British court has banned the publication of scientific work, which discloses the algorithm for launching luxury cars such as Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini, as this can lead to massive thefts of vehicles.
The High Court of Britain has banned the study of Flavio Garcia from the University of Birmingham, who cracked the security system and uncovered the code that allows the car to verify the ignition key.
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The decision of the British court, however, is only intermediate in the case that Volkswagen, which owns these brands, filed against Garcia and two other computer security experts from a Dutch university. The company relied on the fact that the publication of the study could “allow someone, especially criminal gangs, equipped with the right tools, to crack the security system and steal the car”. It is about the Megamos Crypto security system, an algorithm that protects the codes transmitted between the key and the machine.
Scientists, in turn, wanted to publish their Dismantling Megamos Crypto: Wirelessly Lockpicking a Vehicle Immobilizer report at the Usenix Security Symposium conference, Volkswagen asked to remove the launch codes from it, but they refused, as a result of which the court has now imposed a temporary ban on publishing.
Garcia and colleagues say that they are “responsible, law-abiding scientists who perform responsible, law-abiding scientific work,” and their goal is to improve security for everyone, and not give criminals a tool for hacking cars that cost half a million dollars.
The court accepted the decision three weeks ago and tried not to attract attention to it, but now it has become part of a large discussion about the responsibility of automakers for machine safety systems. The judge noted that he understands the importance of the right to publish scientific works, but this "can contribute to theft."
Scientists used the chip slicing technique to analyze the algorithm, actually iron reversing, in which the processor is “sliced” under a microscope and the logic of its operation is restored — a process that costs about 50,000 pounds. Scientists say they are researching everything from payment cards to cars to find weaknesses and fix them.
The High Court of Britain has banned the study of Flavio Garcia from the University of Birmingham, who cracked the security system and uncovered the code that allows the car to verify the ignition key.
')
The decision of the British court, however, is only intermediate in the case that Volkswagen, which owns these brands, filed against Garcia and two other computer security experts from a Dutch university. The company relied on the fact that the publication of the study could “allow someone, especially criminal gangs, equipped with the right tools, to crack the security system and steal the car”. It is about the Megamos Crypto security system, an algorithm that protects the codes transmitted between the key and the machine.
Scientists, in turn, wanted to publish their Dismantling Megamos Crypto: Wirelessly Lockpicking a Vehicle Immobilizer report at the Usenix Security Symposium conference, Volkswagen asked to remove the launch codes from it, but they refused, as a result of which the court has now imposed a temporary ban on publishing.
Garcia and colleagues say that they are “responsible, law-abiding scientists who perform responsible, law-abiding scientific work,” and their goal is to improve security for everyone, and not give criminals a tool for hacking cars that cost half a million dollars.
People have the right to see security vulnerabilities on which they rely. Manufacturers and criminals know that systems are unreliable, but the public is not.
The court accepted the decision three weeks ago and tried not to attract attention to it, but now it has become part of a large discussion about the responsibility of automakers for machine safety systems. The judge noted that he understands the importance of the right to publish scientific works, but this "can contribute to theft."
Scientists used the chip slicing technique to analyze the algorithm, actually iron reversing, in which the processor is “sliced” under a microscope and the logic of its operation is restored — a process that costs about 50,000 pounds. Scientists say they are researching everything from payment cards to cars to find weaknesses and fix them.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/188016/
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