The Guardian reported that a British scientist has been blocked by the courts from revealing his research that would expose the codes used to unlock and start luxury cars like Porsches, Bentleys and Lamborghinis. The High Court ruled that what Flavio Garcia of the University of Birmingham wants to show could lead to the theft of millions of vehicles.
Volkswagen, the company that first brought the case against Garcia and his team, initially asked for a redacted version of the white paper – Dismantling Megamos Crypto: Wirelessly Lockpicking a Vehicle Immobiliser – to be published instead. The scientists declined the invitation which lead to the court injunction.
One wonders why they didn’t just release the information the manufacturers first, before attempting to take it to a security conference. It would be a little more productive if the people who can fix the issue get a head start before anyone else. Although anyone who can afford a Bentley could probably afford a replacement.
Source: Guardian
Actually, Megamos Crypto is used across different brands of cars, it used to be limited to immobilizers, but nowadays key-less systems uses it too. That’s what makes this paper so dangerous.