Dealerships installed alarms in millions of vehicles—and left them in even if the buyer didn’t want them. Now researchers warn they can be hacked to unlock, track, and disable cars.
  • MangoCats@feddit.itEnglish
    2 days

    I purchased a used car from an individual, it had some hacky alarm system spliced in under the dash which malfunctioned quite comically at the grocery store (if it weren’t for the fear of being stranded with a car full of frozen foods) after we had owned the car about a month. That one was such a mess, I managed to identify its components and clip it out, leaving the factory harness undisturbed - would have been a bit more challenging if the system had actually cut some wires that later needed to be re-spliced.

    • sem@piefed.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      3 days

      Anyone in Bluetooth Range Can Unlock Cars, Kill Engines Through Alarms Owners May Never Have Paid For

      A dealer-installed alarm in two million cars is vulnerable to hackers. Worse yet, owners may not even know their car has one.

      • whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        2 days

        And the indicator if your car is likely vulnerable:

        ‘…such vehicles have stickers that read “Karr” or “SWDS” on their driver-side windows’