Key is in the Air: Hacking Remote Keyless Entry Systems

Omar Adel Ibrahim*, Ahmed Mohamed Hussain, Gabriele Oligeri, Roberto Di Pietro

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A Remote Keyless Systems (RKS) is an electronic lock that controls access to a building or vehicle without using a traditional mechanical key. Although RKS have become more and more robust over time, in this paper we show that specifically designed attack strategies are still effective against them. In particular, we show how RKS can be exploited to efficiently hijack cars’ locks. Our new attack strategy—inspired to a previously introduced strategy named jam-listen-replay—only requires a jammer and a signal logger. We prove the effectiveness of our attack against six different car models. The attack is successful in all of the tested cases, and for a wide range of system parameters. We further compare our solution against state of the art attacks, showing that the discovered vulnerabilities enhance over past attacks, and conclude that RKS solutions cannot be considered secure, calling for further research on the topic.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSecurity and Safety Interplay of Intelligent Software Systems - ESORICS 2018 International Workshops, ISSA 2018 and CSITS 2018, Revised Selected Papers
EditorsAsaf Shabtai, Yuval Elovici, Brahim Hamid, Barbara Gallina, Joaquin Garcia-Alfaro
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages125-132
Number of pages8
ISBN (Print)9783030168735
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019
EventInternational Workshop on Interplay of Security, Safety and System/Software Architecture, CSITS 2018, and International Workshop on Cyber Security for Intelligent Transportation Systems, ISSA 2018 held in conjunction with 23rd European Symposium on Research in Computer Security, ESORICS 2018 - Barcelona, Spain
Duration: 6 Sept 20187 Sept 2018

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume11552 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

ConferenceInternational Workshop on Interplay of Security, Safety and System/Software Architecture, CSITS 2018, and International Workshop on Cyber Security for Intelligent Transportation Systems, ISSA 2018 held in conjunction with 23rd European Symposium on Research in Computer Security, ESORICS 2018
Country/TerritorySpain
CityBarcelona
Period6/09/187/09/18

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