The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) wishes to inform telecom customers and the general public about an ongoing cyber-vulnerability that allows a nearby hacker to remotely unlock cars, start their engines, and drive away.
This is because car remotes are classified as short-range devices that use radio frequency (RF) to lock and unlock cars, the Commission felt compelled to warn the public about this emerging threat, in which hackers use them to unlock and start a compromised vehicle.
The vulnerability is a Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack or, more specifically, a replay attack in which an attacker intercepts the RF signals normally sent from a remote key fob to the car, manipulates them, and re-sends them later to unlock the car at will, according to the latest advisory released by the Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT), the NCC’s Cybersecurity Centre for the telecom sector.
With this latest type of cyber-attack, it is also possible to manipulate the captured commands and re-transmit them to achieve a different outcome altogether. “Multiple researchers disclosed a vulnerability, which is said to be used by a nearby attacker to unlock some Honda and Acura car models and start their engines wirelessly. The attack consists of a threat actor capturing the radio frequency (RF) signals sent from your key fob to the car and resending these signals to take control of your car’s remote keyless entry system,” the advisory stated emphatically.
However, the NCC-CSIRT has provided some precautionary measures or solutions that car owners can use to avoid becoming victims of the attack in the advisory.
According to the Commission’s cyber-alert unit “When affected, the only mitigation is to reset your key fob at the dealership. Besides, the affected car manufacturer may provide a security mechanism that generate fresh codes for each authentication request, this makes it difficult for an attacker to ‘replay’ the codes thereafter. Additionally, vulnerable car users should store their key fobs in signal-blocking ‘Faraday pouches’ when not in use.”
Importantly, car owners in the aforementioned categories should opt for Passive Keyless Entry (PKE) rather than Remote Keyless Entry (RKE), which makes it more difficult for an attacker to read the signal because criminals would have to be close by to carry out their nefarious acts.
The PKE is an automatic vehicle security system that unlocks the door on approach or when the door handle is pulled, and locks it when the user walks away or touches the car on exit. The RKE system, on the other hand, is the industry standard for remotely locking and unlocking the doors and luggage compartment of a vehicle.
In a related advisory, the NCC wishes to inform the general public about the resurgence of Joker Trojan-Infected Android Apps on Google Play Store, based on another detection by CSIRT. This was caused by criminals who downloaded legitimate apps from the Play Store, modified them by embedding Trojan malware, and then uploaded the app back to the Play Store under a new name.
The malicious payload is only activated once the apps are published on the Play Store, allowing them to pass Google’s stringent review process. Once installed, these apps will ask for permissions, which will give them access to important functions like text messages and notifications.
Android users have been advised to avoid downloading unnecessary apps or installing apps from unofficial sources to avoid falling victim to the manipulation of hackers using Joker Trojan-Infected Android Apps. The NCC also advises telecom customers to thoroughly vet apps downloaded from the Google Play Store by reading reviews, evaluating developers, reading the terms of service, and only granting the necessary permissions.
Finally, the NCC advises that any installed app be checked for unauthorised transactions. Any apps that are no longer in use should be deleted, and users should always keep their devices patched and updated to the latest software.
