- A piracy of $ 199 would be used to fly cars
- Specially developed fixes allow thieves to exploit security vulnerabilities
- The widespread attacks affected the Kia and Hyundai models in the past
A diminutive orange and white device, which costs only $ 199 in the United States (around £ 150 / $ 310 in), would be used to remotely unlock modern vehicles.
A detailed report of 404 Media revealed that underground hackers have developed and now sell software fixes that can be loaded on the device to unlock all kinds of cars, including those of big brands like Ford, Audi Volkswagen, Kia and many others.
The Flipper Zero is marketed as a “multi-tool device for geeks” and can be scheduled to “explore any type of access control system, RFID, radio protocols and debugging equipment using GPIO pins (general entry / output)”, according to the company’s website. It has already been used for everything to return the television channels to public places to confuse iphones.
Just like the largely declared “kia boys” – a band of adolescent hackers who have gained notoriety for having stolen Kias using USB cables – The Flipper hack works by intercepting and cloning the FOB radio signal of a vehicle.
According to 404 media, underground pirates have developed a firmware that can be purchased for costs between $ 600 and $ 1,000, downloaded from the device, then used to unlock a variety of vehicles.
The fixes are currently limited to the opening of the vehicle, which presents its own risks, but the individuals cited in the report provide that it will not be long before they can be developed to replace any type of security system to start and keep modern cars away.
This pinball machine is not so fabulous
This is not the first time that the Flipper Zero has made the headlines, because there is an entire reddit wire dedicated to the pranksmen opening the Tesla load ports remotely with their devices.
The disc also brought back a youtuber who managed to hack his pinball machine to change the traffic lights from red to green. Overall, they are very good at highlighting security vulnerabilities in many modern systems, but are so often used for harmful means.
A disturbing example is to exploit a flaw in today’s vehicles which are increasingly avoiding the key and relatively reliable locking for fancy FOB.
The relay attacks have tormented the tastes of Jaguar Land Rover in the past, with older Range Rovers particularly vulnerable to attacks, forcing the owner’s insurance premiums through the roof.
In the United States, local police have warned the owners of Kia and Hyundai to install killing switches or resort to steering locks after a Tik-Tok 2022 video has revealed how easy it is to steal a number of brand vehicles.
Consequently, groups like Kia boys have emerged online, turning to the flying cars for views on the internet. A multitude of copycates have since followed suit and continue to cause problems.
Today’s car manufacturers have been busy scoring security fixes to try to improve customer confidence, but it seems that it is very difficult to stay ahead of pirates.
Currently, the Flipper Zero patches have only been sold for a small number of users, but 404 Media warns that this could become a more widespread problem if they become open source or free to download.
