Paper says many keyless VW cars sold since 1995 can be broken into using cheap tools to catch radio signals.

Dark Reading Staff, Dark Reading

August 17, 2016

1 Min Read

Researchers at the University of Birmingham recently published research that highlights the vulnerabilities of keyless car systems in millions of Volkswagen (VW) cars sold since 1995, reports Reuters. With the exception of vehicles built on its latest platform, many VW Group cars, including Audi Q3 of 2016, can allegedly be manipulated with cheap devices.

"It is conceivable that all VW Group (except for some Audi) cars manufactured in the past and partially today rely on a 'constant-key' scheme and are thus vulnerable to the attacks," says the paper. 

VW acknowledged the flaw but said its latest Golf, Tiguan, Touran, and Passat models were not exposed. The authors claim some older Ford models may also have this problem. Ford says it has discontinued use of the flawed system.

The researchers withheld vulnerability details over concerns they could be misused by criminals.

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Dark Reading Staff

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