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The makers of the Flipper Zero are launching a campaign to fight Canada’s decision to ban the device for allegedly fueling car thefts in the country. Delaware-based Flipper Devices today announced an online petition to “stop the absurd ban,” and instead organize a new commission filled with technical experts to study the car theft problem. “Flipper Zero is not a tool for stealing cars since it lacks technical capabilities required to steal any modern vehicle, and there is simply no evidence to support this claim,” Flipper Devices CEO Pavlo Zhovner says in the petition. “We urge all security researchers, pentesters, and electronics enthusiasts —to sign this petition today!”
(Credit: Flipper Devices)
The company started the petition a month after Canada announced it would pursue “all avenues to ban devices used to steal vehicles,” including the Flipper Zero. The country is targeting the device because it can technically detect and copy wireless signals from a car’s key fob. But in a blog post about the petition, Flipper Devices says the ban is flawed since radio signals can be captured through a variety of basic electronics, including a PC’s microphone input. “To protect against the interception of radio signals, it would be necessary to ban all electronics, including headphones, which is unrealistic,” the company wrote. It’s true that a $169 Flipper Zero can record and copy the wireless signal from a key fob. But the company says simply replaying the wireless signal isn’t enough to unlock a car. That’s because modern cars built over the past two decades rely on ever-changing “rolling codes,” instead of fixed codes,” to unlock a vehicle.
(Credit: Flipper Devices)
“This means that whenever the user presses a button on a remote, it generates a unique code based on a sequence known only by the access control system. Simply capturing a signal and replaying it wouldn’t provide access since this set of numbers has already been used,” the company says. Instead, a car jacker would need to deliberately jam the radio signal from the key fob, all the while capturing the rolling code using a Flipper Zero — a tall order when it would be easier to simply break the window to the car. According to Flipper Devices, the real culprit behind car thefts is the use of “radio repeaters,” which can receive and then retransmit the wireless signal. These devices usually cost thousands of dollars and can be used to extend the radio range of a key fob while an owner is sleeping at home.
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“Thieves work in pairs and use radio repeaters to trick the car into believing the key fob is nearby when it’s actually inside the victim’s house,” the company added. A car built with a keyless entry system will then automatically unlock its doors and start the engine, thinking the key fob is nearby. In contrast, the Flipper Zero has no such repeater function.
(Credit: Flipper Devices)
“Flipper Zero is equipped with only one sub-1 GHz radio module, while keyless repeaters have 4 radio modules: one for communication with the car, another one for communication with the key fob, and two for communication between the repeaters,” Flipper Devices says. The company adds that a Flipper Zero ban would also do nothing to require car makers to improve their keyless entry systems. “Instead of banning cybersecurity tools capable of finding vulnerabilities in security systems, these vulnerabilities must be fixed,” Flipper Devices says. The Canadian government didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But last month, authorities told PCMag they plan on “finalizing an action plan that will be released this winter” to combat the car thefts.
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