Hackers can use the Flipper zero to unlock cars, but the device itself is not the problem – Jalopnik

The Flipper Zero is again entangled in controversy. The electronic multi-tool, with its range of different antennas, has long been demonized for simple existence-the Canadian government has even spoken about the prohibition of the complete link to car thefts because of a theoretical but then unauthorized link. Now, one Research of 404 media has unveiled an underground market of Flipper software that is designed to break into modern cars, but there is a catch: the Flipper itself is still not the problem, because the problem is with the cars and keys itself.

This new attack method beats the use of modern cars from rolling codes, unique data that sends a keyfob with every interaction with the car, and it starts with intercepting a real transmission of a keyfob – just like a relay attack. However, unlike a relay attack, where the real transmission artificial reach has been expanded to gain access to a car without the driver in the vicinity, this new approach uses the information from the real keyfob to reverse the algorithm the algorithm with which the unique data is calculated. With that algorithm in hand, a device with the right antenna can act as its own, completely independent key, even go so far to desynchronize the real keyfob of the car in favor of the cheater. That cheater can be a pinball zero, a raspberry pi and probably many more devices.

The problem here is not the existence of a handheld device with a radio antenna, it is the fact that the malignant actors who develop the software for those devices have access to the source code of car manufacturers. Roller codes are intended to prevent these types of attacks, by generating new codes with each interaction, but that security disappears when hackers know how the code is generated – just know that one code seems to be sufficient to reverse the algorithm and know what the next input will be in the series. At that time, the device that sends the code is trivial. Flipper Zero, Raspberry Pi, laptop, it really doesn’t matter.

The Flipper Zero, just like the Raspberry Pi, has a lot of real use. I personally own one, and it acts as everything, from a TV remote control to a tamagotchi for me – I even had a friend used to use their Flipper to copy the most important FOB of their apartment to send me so that my device can unlock their door when I visited a few days. The Flipper has never been the problem with the security of the automotive, the problem is that the security code of car manufacturers has leaked to or reverse developed by malignant actors.