High-tech thieves use laptops to steal cars

By John Holl

updated 3:26 p.m. ET June 26, 2006

NEW YORK - Security technology created to protect luxury vehicles may now make it easier for tech-savy thieves to drive away with them.

In April, high-tech criminals made international headlines when they used a laptop and transmitter to open the locks and start the ignition of an armor-plated BMW X5 belonging to soccer player David Beckham, the second X5 stolen from him using this technology within six months.

Two of British soccer star David Beckham's BMW X5s were stolen by thieves who hacked into the codes for the vehicles' RFID chips.

The most recent theft occurred while Beckham and his two sons were eating at a restaurant in suburban Madrid. Spanish police suspected a Bulgarian gang of car thieves that specialize in stealing luxury cars. At the time of publication, no suspects had yet been apprehended.

This highly publicized theft was not the first indication that keyless systems were vulnerable to wireless break-ins. Back in 2004, when keyless technology was still new and touted as unbreakable and secure, Dr. Aviel D. Rubin, a professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University, along with several of his graduate students examined this possibility. Within three months they had successfully cracked the code embedded within the ignition keys of newer model cars, theoretically allowing them to steal the autos.

Using a laptop computer, an antenna and specifically designed software, Rubin and his team extracted a code that transmits from a small Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip inside the key. From there the team tested more than one trillion possible encryption answers.

The most-stolen autos Click the links below to learn more Cadillac Escalade Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Dodge Ram 1500 Ford F-250/350 Chrysler Sebring

"It was a trial-and-error process," Rubin said. "We wanted to see if it could be broken and found out that it could. We were surprised."

Realizing the ramifications of their discovery, Rubin and his team presented their findings to Texas Instruments — the makers of the chip — and automaker representatives and posted their research paper online. On the site, the team does not reveal the specifics of how they broke the code, so as to not enable criminals to harness the technology.

Texas Instruments’ reaction was one of surprise, Rubin said. The chip manufacturer was skeptical at first, but once the engineers received an in-person demonstration, they relented that the technology could be broken. Unfortunately, there wasn't much that TI, the world’s largest integrated maker of RFID tags, smart labels and reader systems, could do about it. A recall would be nearly impossible and very expensive.

Bill Allen, director of business development for Texas Instruments' RFID division, did not dispute what the Johns Hopkins team did, but said it is "a complex thing and not something that can be done easily."

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