This is an article describing "Technology researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found that radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies used for automobile locks and easy-pay gasoline systems are sorely lacking in protection, warning that opportunists could easily exploit the weakness"

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/40173.html

THis is a link to the actual research:
http://rfidanalysis.org/

In reading the actual document located here, http://rfidanalysis.org/DSTbreak.pdf , the focus is on Mobil Speedpass RIFD but includes any of the Texas Instruments DIgital Signal Transponders, including our very own Immobilizer!

 

Sorry, I could not go read it...I'm already sick to my stomach...

 

Wow, this is really getting to you. Are you going to sleep in your car with a loaded shotgun after they SUV drove by your house .

I was chatting with my friend about the RX-8 theft, and he pointed out that's what auto insurance is for. Yep, it might take them 30 days to pay ........ but I'm not going to loose any sleep over it.

If you don't already have the Mazda made RX-8 $44 shock sensor alarm upgrade, it might be worth it for piece of mind.

 

This is not really anything new. Keyless entry systems have been hackable for years now.

Haven't you seen "Ghost Dog" with Forest Whitaker? HAHAHAHA.

 

The keyless entry is an easy install too - as long as you're a contortionist my long arms didnt help any when lying on my back under the dash trying to cut wires, but I managed to do it myself, and I'm an electrical newbie.

 

keyless entry .......... what are you talking about? I thought all our cars came standard with keyless entry?

 

you obviously do not have a clue. rfid and keyless entry are two different systems. and in ghost dog, wasn't that ifr, not rifd? and comparing real life to something you have seen in a movie...well, no comment there.

 

We're not ready for RFID yet, but someone has to breakthrough on it. Walmart and other companies are trying to implement RFIDs but they are getting a lot of resistance because it has the potential to destroy privacy as we know it. The immobilizer thing is just another flaw in this fiasco.

 

rifd used in our immoblizers can be secured using either stronger encryption (such as the phillips SECT or "development of solid, well-modeled cryptographic protocols predicated on industry-standard algorithms, with key lengths suitable for long-term hardware deployment" as mentioned in the article).

 

Just a matter of time!

 

I'm not worried about theft all that much. It's not like 8 parts are hot items on the black market. If your that paranoid about it, install a fuel cutout, or just pull the fuel pump fuse every night. Car thieves don't have alot of time to be figuring out why the heck the car won't start. At worst they'll just vandalize it, if they can't steal it.