Here's a case for buying older cars if we've ever seen one. Do you drive a vehicle newer than 2008? Your car's tire pressure system could be used to track your location.
A group of researchers at IMDEA Networks Institute -- an English-speaking data networks research organization based in Madrid -- discovered this privacy risk after a 10-week study in which they collected roughly 6 million wireless signals from more than 20,000 cars. Their findings point to a serious hacking threat hidden in the tire sensors of most modern vehicles.
The TREAD Act of 2000 mandated that modern cars come equipped with TPMS for road safety. The system works by releasing wireless signals through tiny sensors attached to each tire, which communicate each tire's pressure information to the car's electronic control unit. A warning light on the vehicle's dashboard indicates low tire pressure.
Instead of using a camera with a clear line of sight to the car, hackers can hypothetically track it using the wireless signals emitted by the car's tire sensors. That signal is continuously sent out as an unencrypted unique ID number.
Basically, anyone nearby with a cheap radio receiver can pick up the signal and later recognize the same vehicle without ever seeing the license plate.
Information could help users track drivers
"Our results show that these tire sensor signals can be used to follow vehicles and learn their movement patterns," Domenico Giustiniano, research professor at IMDEA Networks Institute, said in the peer-reviewed report. "This means a network of inexpensive wireless receivers could quietly monitor the patterns of cars in real-world environments. Such information could reveal daily routines, such as work arrival times or travel habits."
The researchers were able to capture signals from more than 50 meters away from moving cars, through walls and from inside buildings. The tire pressure readings helped reveal the vehicle type, its weight and the driving pattern of the driver. It's a cheap, tough-to-detect, potentially covert tracking method.
While this may be a startling discovery, Cooper Quintin, a senior staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told CNET it's not the only privacy threat in your car's computer system.
"Any method that can be misused to surreptitiously track people's movements without their knowledge is concerning," he said. "But so are all of the technologies in modern cars that intentionally violate drivers' privacy by collecting and sharing data for purposes of advertising, insurance risk assessment, and more. It's sad that drivers have to worry about this, and everyone should learn how to protect themselves whenever possible while manufacturers are pressured to do better."
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