PSA: Thieves are now stealing cars via a headlight 'CAN injection'
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PSA: Thieves are now stealing cars via a headlight 'CAN injection'
https://www.yahoo.com/autos/thieves-...193000246.html
Car thieves have come up with yet another way to steal your car, and this one is rather creative. We’ll refer to it as “headlight hacking,”
The method of theft begins at your car’s headlight module, but the only reason thieves have chosen this point of entry is because it offers them the easiest way to get hooked into a vehicle’s CAN bus system.
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Professional thieves looking to steal high-end cars will simply drag them onto a roll-back and be gone in seconds rather than spend 20 minutes doing it this way... and I don't think a random casual thief is going to go to that much trouble either. It just takes too long... the risk of getting caught goes up exponentially with every passing minute. If they can't grab it in just a few minutes at the most, they won't bother.
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Professional thieves looking to steal high-end cars will simply drag them onto a roll-back and be gone in seconds rather than spend 20 minutes doing it this way... and I don't think a random casual thief is going to go to that much trouble either. It just takes too long... the risk of getting caught goes up exponentially with every passing minute. If they can't grab it in just a few minutes at the most, they won't bother.
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I'd like to add to this thread.
Vice also has an article describing this theft method. The article has a link to a much more technical article that describes in detail (albeit not too much detail) how a victim of a car theft -and a CAN bus expert himself- reverse engineered the theft method.
The Vice article talks about off the shelf devices that will do the CAN bus injection, preferably via a CAN socket that can be reached from outside the vehicle:
The technical article doesn't mention Mercedes-Benz, but also doesn't mention that this method doesn't work om Mercedes-Benz cars:
Without wanting to panic, I'd dare to say this sucks big time.
I wonder if anyone on MBWorld knows more about the ins/outs of this hack, and if generations of Mercedes-Benz vehicles are vulnerable.
Vice also has an article describing this theft method. The article has a link to a much more technical article that describes in detail (albeit not too much detail) how a victim of a car theft -and a CAN bus expert himself- reverse engineered the theft method.
The Vice article talks about off the shelf devices that will do the CAN bus injection, preferably via a CAN socket that can be reached from outside the vehicle:
“The device does all the work for them,” Ken Tindell, CTO at vehicle cybersecurity firm Canis Labs, told Motherboard in an email. “All they have to do is take two wires from the device, detach the headlight, and stuff the wires into the right holes in the vehicle side of the connector.” When it comes to vehicle owner’s protecting themselves from this sort of threat, “there’s nothing simple consumers can do.”
There are products targeting many car models, including from Jeep, Maserati, Honda, Renault, Jaguar, Fiat, Peugeot, Nissan, Ford, BMW, Volkswagen, Chrysler, Cadillac, GMC - and Toyota.
I wonder if anyone on MBWorld knows more about the ins/outs of this hack, and if generations of Mercedes-Benz vehicles are vulnerable.
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I'd like to add to this thread.
Vice also has an article describing this theft method. The article has a link to a much more technical article that describes in detail (albeit not too much detail) how a victim of a car theft -and a CAN bus expert himself- reverse engineered the theft method.
The Vice article talks about off the shelf devices that will do the CAN bus injection, preferably via a CAN socket that can be reached from outside the vehicle:
The technical article doesn't mention Mercedes-Benz, but also doesn't mention that this method doesn't work om Mercedes-Benz cars:
Without wanting to panic, I'd dare to say this sucks big time.
I wonder if anyone on MBWorld knows more about the ins/outs of this hack, and if generations of Mercedes-Benz vehicles are vulnerable.
Vice also has an article describing this theft method. The article has a link to a much more technical article that describes in detail (albeit not too much detail) how a victim of a car theft -and a CAN bus expert himself- reverse engineered the theft method.
The Vice article talks about off the shelf devices that will do the CAN bus injection, preferably via a CAN socket that can be reached from outside the vehicle:
The technical article doesn't mention Mercedes-Benz, but also doesn't mention that this method doesn't work om Mercedes-Benz cars:
Without wanting to panic, I'd dare to say this sucks big time.
I wonder if anyone on MBWorld knows more about the ins/outs of this hack, and if generations of Mercedes-Benz vehicles are vulnerable.
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Most vulnerable to theft cars
As a general rule, the most stolen cars are the ones most useful for spare parts. Chop Shops like Civics and the like.
Here's an article from IIHS (who I don't trust) featuring data from HLDI (Highway Loss Data Institute) (who I do trust) about current theft numbers.
https://www.cars.com/articles/these-...s-iihs-457296/
Here's an article from IIHS (who I don't trust) featuring data from HLDI (Highway Loss Data Institute) (who I do trust) about current theft numbers.
https://www.cars.com/articles/these-...s-iihs-457296/
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As a general rule, the most stolen cars are the ones most useful for spare parts. Chop Shops like Civics and the like.
Here's an article from IIHS (who I don't trust) featuring data from HLDI (Highway Loss Data Institute) (who I do trust) about current theft numbers.
https://www.cars.com/articles/these-...s-iihs-457296/
Here's an article from IIHS (who I don't trust) featuring data from HLDI (Highway Loss Data Institute) (who I do trust) about current theft numbers.
https://www.cars.com/articles/these-...s-iihs-457296/
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 32,494
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I'd like to add to this thread.
Vice also has an article describing this theft method. The article has a link to a much more technical article that describes in detail (albeit not too much detail) how a victim of a car theft -and a CAN bus expert himself- reverse engineered the theft method.
The Vice article talks about off the shelf devices that will do the CAN bus injection, preferably via a CAN socket that can be reached from outside the vehicle:
The technical article doesn't mention Mercedes-Benz, but also doesn't mention that this method doesn't work om Mercedes-Benz cars:
Without wanting to panic, I'd dare to say this sucks big time.
I wonder if anyone on MBWorld knows more about the ins/outs of this hack, and if generations of Mercedes-Benz vehicles are vulnerable.
Vice also has an article describing this theft method. The article has a link to a much more technical article that describes in detail (albeit not too much detail) how a victim of a car theft -and a CAN bus expert himself- reverse engineered the theft method.
The Vice article talks about off the shelf devices that will do the CAN bus injection, preferably via a CAN socket that can be reached from outside the vehicle:
The technical article doesn't mention Mercedes-Benz, but also doesn't mention that this method doesn't work om Mercedes-Benz cars:
Without wanting to panic, I'd dare to say this sucks big time.
I wonder if anyone on MBWorld knows more about the ins/outs of this hack, and if generations of Mercedes-Benz vehicles are vulnerable.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,838
Likes: 7
G55, SLS, smart eq
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 32,494
Likes: 6,345
I am guessing it has to do with how much more work it is to remove certain parts of the headlight compared to other brands to access the module...
