Skip to main content

Volkswagen sues to prevent hacking of luxury car anti-theft systems

A group of Dutch and British scientists at the UK’s University of Birmingham has discovered the secret algorithm used to identify the identity of each unique ignition key used to start luxury and exotic cars such as Porsches, Lamborghinis, Audis and Bentleys, all part of the German Volkswagen Group. The scientists, Baris Ege, Roel Verdult and Flavio Garcia had hoped to publish the paper at the USENIX Security Conference in Washington next month but Volkswagen sued to prevent them from disclosing key details
July 31, 2013 Read time: 1 min
A group of Dutch and British scientists at the UK’s University of Birmingham has discovered the secret algorithm used to identify the identity of each unique ignition key used to start luxury and exotic cars such as Porsches, Lamborghinis, Audis and Bentleys, all part of the German 994 Volkswagen Group.

The scientists, Baris Ege, Roel Verdult and Flavio Garcia had hoped to publish the paper at the USENIX Security Conference in Washington next month but Volkswagen sued to prevent them from disclosing key details of their work, arguing that publicising the flaw would put the security of some of its most expensive vehicles at risk.

The UK’s high court has imposed an injunction stopping the publishing of such papers, while the university has issued a statement saying it will ‘defer publication’ of the paper.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Europe’s number one leading Mobility as a Service conference says the future of transport lies in delivering change
    January 19, 2018
    First hand reports on the rapid progress being made, as well as the obstacles being faced, by Mobility as a Service projects across Europe dominate the agenda of the second “MaaS Market Concept to Delivery” conference taking place in London next month. Speakers will cover the political and regulatory implications, open data, technology and common standards, demand responsive transport and future business models. This is Europe’s number one leading MaaS event and it includes presentations from Port
  • Adaptive cruise control would suppress traffic instability
    March 20, 2014
    Professor Berthold Horn of Massachusetts Institute of Technology believes a modified adaptive cruise control could mitigate phantom traffic jamsthat occur for no apparent reason. The phenomenon of the phantom traffic jam is all too common: they appear for no apparent reason and, having caused frustrating delays for all travelers, evaporate for an equally mystical reason. Phantom traffic jams usually occur on busy highways and often take the form of repeatedly stopping and then accelerating up to near the
  • CARS group forms to protect rider privacy
    March 23, 2020
    A group has formed to raise awareness of how mobility data specification (MDS) can be used by local governments to track personal movements through a city.
  • Interview: Jarrett Walker, author of Human Transit
    May 2, 2018
    Elon Musk has called him a ‘sanctimonious idiot’ but public transit expert Jarrett Walker tells Andrew Stone that more data and smarter cars aren't the answer to mass mobility...