- A hackingness of $ 199 is reportedly used to steal cars
- Specially developed patches allow thieves to take advantage of safety vulnerability
- Widespread attacks have affected the Kia and Hyundai models in the past
A diminishing orange-white device that costs only $ 199 in the US (about £ 150 / AU $ 310) is reportedly used to unlock modern vehicles.
An in -depth report from 404 media found that underground hackers have evolved and now selling software spots that can be loaded onto the device to unlock all kinds of cars, including those from larger brands such as Ford, Audi Volkswagen, Kia and many more.
Flipper Zero is marketed as a “Multi-Tool device to nerds” and can be programmed to “explore any form of access control system, RFID, radio protocols and debug hardware using GPIO (General Input/Output) founder” according to the company’s website. It has previously been used for everything from turning TV channels in public places to confusing iPhones.
Like they reported the ‘Kia Boys’ band with teenage hackers who got notoriousness to steal KIAS using just USB cables-functioning flipper hack by listening and clone a vehicle’s key FOB’s radio signal.
According to 404 media, underground hackers have developed firmware that can be purchased against a fee of between $ 600 and $ 1000, uploaded to the device and then used to unlock a number of vehicles.
The patches are currently limited to just opening the vehicle, which presents its own risks, but individuals quoted in the report warn that it will not be long before they can be developed to override any kind of safety system to start and drive away the modern cars.
This flipper is not so fabulous
This is not the first time that Flipper Zero is hitting the headlines as there is a whole Reddit wire dedicated to Pranksters, which opens the Tesla charging ports externally with their devices.
The drive also reported a YouTuber who managed to hack his flipper to change traffic lights from red to green. In general, they are very good at highlighting safety vulnerability in many modern systems, but are often used for dishonest means.
A worrying example is to exploit an error in today’s vehicles that increasingly avoid the relatively reliable key-and-lock for smart remote controls.
Relay attacks have plagued them like Jaguar Land Rover in the past, with older Range Rovers, which are particularly vulnerable to the attacks, forcing the owner’s insurance premiums through the roof.
In the United States, local police forces have warned KIA and Hyundai owners to install kill switches or resort to control locks after a TIK-Tok video from 2022 revealed how easy it is to steal a number of the brand’s vehicles.
As a result, groups like Kia Boys emerged online and filmed themselves and stole cars for ISPs. A number of copycats have since followed and continue to cause problems.
Today’s car manufacturers have been busy installing security fixes to try to improve customer confidence, but it seems very difficult to stay ahead of the hackers.
Currently, Flipper Zero Patches is only sold to a small number of users, but 404 media warns that this may become a more widespread problem if they become open source or free to download.
