[ale] Hackers can track your car!

[Bob Toxen]

Apparently the range is only 50 yards, meaning that it is not much better
than just tailing in another car, and you'd certainly need to closely
follow.

The devices on all four tires are intended to transmit tire pressure to
the car's central computer in the front of the car.  Might be better to
attach an Apple Air Tag.

This seems a rather minor threat compared to, say, remotely connecting
to a connected car and take over braking, acceleration, windshield
wipers and washers, etc. which was possible with some cars in 2015.
(I was involved in this matter then.)

Bob

On Fri, Feb 27, 2026 at 06:33:38PM -0500, Pete Hardie wrote:
> Any info on whether they can be spoofed?
> 
> Pete Hardie
> --------
> Better Living Through Bitmaps
> 
> On Fri, Feb 27, 2026, 17:36 Bob Toxen via Ale <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=z16l2snue3_2-31e87_0x246fd3x021858
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ale mailing list
> > Ale at ale.org
> > https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> > See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> > http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
> >