A car alarm vendor’s coding mistake has left millions of vehicles vulnerable to theft and location tracking. Thanks to the way dealers sell car alarms, many affected drivers don’t even know they have one installed.
The device is the KARR Security System, a Bluetooth-enabled aftermarket alarm built by Acrisure Protection Group. It’s installed by dealers, primarily at Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Ford, and Jeep dealerships in Southern California.
Aftermarket car alarms are a strange corner of the auto industry. Dealers install them in your car before you ever see the vehicle, then try to sell you the subscription afterward. Say no and the hardware still stays put. According to researchers at the University of California San Diego, KARR systems are installed in about 2.2 million American vehicles, and around half of owners don’t even know they’re there.
Read more…
Source: MalwareBytes Labs
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Mercedes-Benz Head Unit security research report
January 17, 2025
This report covers the research of the Mercedes-Benz Head Unit, which was made by Kaspersky team. Mercedes-Benz’s latest Head Unit (infotainment system) is called Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX). The researchers performed analysis of the first generation MBUX. MBUX was previously analysed by KeenLab. Their report is a good starting point for diving deep into the MBUX ...
- Data leak at VW subsidiary affects 800,000 electric cars
December 27, 2024
A data leak at the software company Cariad, a subsidiary of German car manufacturer Volkswagen (VW), left the personal details of electric car owners in Europe available online for months, Germany’s Spiegel news magazine reported on Friday. The movement data of 800,000 vehicles and contact information of the owners was accessible via the Amazon cloud storage ...
- Pakistan: Severe Cyber Attack at Dewan Farooque Motors Corrupts Data and Crashes Servers
November 30, 2024
A cyber-attack crippled Dewan Farooque Motors Limited (DFML), corrupting key corporate data and crashing servers. The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) received notice of the incident on Friday. DFML told stakeholders that restoring its information systems and financial data, including information from the first quarter ending September 30, 2024, will be a lengthy process. Read more… Source: ProPakistan News Sign ...
- Ford denies it was hit by data breach, says customer data is safe
November 22, 2024
Ford has denied suffering a data breach frecently, saying the information circulating around the web belongs to a third party and is, for the most part, publicly available. A known leaker with the alias EnergyWeaponUser recently posted a new thread on BreachForums, claiming to be sharing Ford’s data for free. “Today, I have uploaded the Ford ...
- Telematics giant Microlise suffers cyber attack
November 1, 2024
Telematics giant Microlise suffers cyber attack By Gareth Roberts | 1 November 2024 Connected vehicles Microlise has suffered a cyber attack, with a large proportion of the company’s services affected, leaving fleets without some tracking services. The Microlise board says it has appointed external cyber security specialists whose investigations are underway to establish the nature and ...
- Millions of Kia vehicles were vulnerable to remote attacks with just a license plate number
September 27, 2024
In June of 2024 security researchers uncovered a set of vulnerabilities in the Kia dealer portal that allowed them to remotely take over any Kia vehicle built after 2013—and all they needed was a license plate number. According to the researchers: “These attacks could be executed remotely on any hardware-equipped vehicle in about 30 seconds, regardless ...