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Anyone in Bluetooth Range Can Unlock Cars, Kill Engines Through Alarms Owners May Never Have Paid For
The Drive • • technology
Key Points:
- UC San Diego researchers discovered a serious security vulnerability in Karr car alarm systems, which are installed in about 2 million vehicles across the U.S., allowing hackers to remotely unlock doors, disable ignition, and cause other disruptions via Bluetooth.
- Karr has released a firmware update to fix the flaw, available through a free companion smartphone app, but the patch took 18 months to be issued after the vulnerability was reported.
- Many vehicles have Karr alarms installed by dealers without owners' knowledge, as these systems are used for inventory tracking on lots and often remain active even if customers decline the paid monitoring service.
- The Bluetooth radio in Karr systems remains active for 10 minutes after the car is turned off, increasing the risk window for potential attacks.
- Experts urge regulatory action to require dealers to remove such monitoring hardware from vehicles at sale unless customers explicitly consent and pay for the service, to prevent exploitation of unnecessary connected car devices.
