Scientists Banned From Publishing Secret Codes To Start Luxury Cars

A British-based computer scientist has been banned from publishing an academic paper revealing the secret codes used to start luxury cars including Porsches, Audis, Bentleys and Lamborghinis as it could lead to the theft of millions of vehicles, a judge has ruled.

The high court imposed an injunction on the University of Birmingham's Flavio Garcia, a lecturer in computer science, who has cracked the security system by discovering the unique algorithm that allows the car to verify the identity of the ignition key.

The UK injunction is an interim step in a case launched by Volkswagen's parent, which owns the four luxury marques, against Garcia and two other cryptography experts from a Dutch university.

jeffy210 - 7/29/2013 11:47:25 PM

+1 Boost

So I have a problem with this. The injunction was granted, but there was no timeframe specified in which VW will issue a recall and fix. What this now means is 1) weak security is still being produced, 2) said cars are still vulnerable, 3) you know someone with malicious intents either has access to this, or will figure it out. Where does that leave the owners?