[ale] Hackers can track your car!

[Ken Cochran]

Same/similar article popped up in my Firefox news thing as well, from CNET.

A Hacker Threat Is Hiding in Your Car's Tire Pressure System
A new study reveals that a car's tire pressure monitoring system
can be easily accessed by hackers.
Aaron Pruner Feb. 25, 2026 4:11 p.m. PT 2 min read
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/hacker-threat-hiding-in-car-tire-pressure-system/

FWIW (Jeff) I have vehicles MYs 2008 & 2019 & both report
individual TPMS pressures, so the "individuality" must be
manufacturer/model specific {shrug}.

Yet Another Addition to the plethora of vehicle
electronics/telematics security issues. It'll be interesting
to see how this gets exploited.  Sad that such a wonderful
tire-longetivity & vehicle safety feature has such a Dark Side.

-k

> Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2026 10:20:46 -0500
> Subject: Re: [ale] Hackers can track your car!
> From: Jeff Lightner via Ale <ale at ale.org>
> Reply-To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts <ale at ale.org>
> Cc: jc.lightner at comcast.net
>
> =E2=80=A6by which point you=E2=80=99d need to buy new tires that can be =
> tracked.
>
> I=E2=80=99m annoyed that my 2017  gives me low tire pressure alerts but =
> makes me figure out which one is low.   Newer vehicles display which =
> tire it is.
>
> From: Ale <ale-bounces at ale.org> On Behalf Of Jim Kinney via Ale
> Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2026 8:59 AM
> To: Bob Toxen <transam at verysecurelinux.com>; Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts =
> <ale at ale.org>
> Cc: Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [ale] Hackers can track your car!
>
> The good news is they can only track for about 5 years. Then the =
> batteries run down.
>
> --
> James P. Kinney III
>
> On Fri, Feb 27, 2026, 5:36=E2=80=AFPM Bob Toxen via Ale <ale at ale.org =
> <mailto:ale at ale.org> > wrote:
>
> Read the TechNews Online at: http://technews.acm.org
> (c) 2026 Smithbucklin
> This service may be reproduced for internal distribution.
> ACM TechNews; Friday, February 27, 2026
>
> Car's Tire Pressure System Poses Hacking Threat
> CNET (02/25/26) Aaron Pruner
>
> Cars made after 2008, which under the U.S. TREAD Act of 2000 must be
> equipped with tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) for road safety,
> may expose drivers to covert tracking, warn researchers from Spain's
> IMDEA Networks Institute.  The researchers collected millions of wireless
> signals from thousands of vehicles and found that TPMS sensors broadcast
> unencrypted unique identifiers that can be picked up from more than 50m
> away using inexpensive radio receivers.
>
> https://maestro.acm.org/trk/click?ref=3Dz16l2snue3_2-31e87_0x246fd3x021858
> _______________________________________________