Los investigadores irrumpen en un Tesla y se alejan utilizando la vulnerabilidad de Bluetooth

Los investigadores han encontrado una falla en Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) que permite que un dispositivo desconocido sea tratado como familiar. Este es un problema porque muchos dispositivos inteligentes usan BLE para reconocer un dispositivo confiable como clave. Los investigadores incluso demostraron la eficacia de su dispositivo anti-Bluetooth abriendo un Tesla bloqueado y ahuyentándolo.

La vulnerabilidad afecta al Tesla Model 3 y al Tesla Model Y, pero como señala Reuters, millones de automóviles de otras marcas también se ven afectados.

Watch as a researcher from the NCC Group shows how easy it is to plant a relay device and remotely hijack the trusted connection between a phone and a 2021 Tesla Model Y in this video from The Telegraph:

The researchers used a relay device connected to a laptop to mimic the signal of a trusted device — in this case, the smartphone that the Tesla owner programmed to be used in lieu of Tesla’s RFID key card. The video shows the researcher carrying the device to the car, but using this method, hackers could be on the other side of the world and still unlock and operate the car. What’s worse, hackers can exploit the vulnerability to break into any BLE-powered device, including smart locks on homes or businesses.

Here’s the scary thing: This is a feature of BLE, not a bug. Or more like a design feature that became a bug. According to the researchers, BLE wasn’t engineered with security in mind, and you can’t really strengthen security that was never there in the first place.

Yup. I think it’s time we ditched BLE and went with UWB, because there’s no fix for this. At least, not through a software patch.

So what can owners of Teslas and other cars with BLE-based security do? NCC Group recommends disabling passive entry altogether. But if that sounds too old-fashioned, the researchers suggest adding a PIN code for security, as well as placing time limits on the entry system to disable hands-free entry if the phone or key has been stationary longer than a minute.