Researchers showed that tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) broadcast a persistent unique identifier in clear text, making the signals vulnerable to passive eavesdropping. By deploying five low-cost receivers for 10 weeks and collecting over 6 million messages from roughly 20,000 vehicles, they demonstrated that cheap hardware and software-defined radios can be used to track cars, infer driver behavior, and even spoof alerts to force stops. #TPMS #TirePressureSensors
Keypoints
- TPMS transmits a persistent unique identifier in plaintext, exposing vehicles to tracking.
- Researchers captured over 6 million TPMS messages from about 20,000 vehicles using five receivers over 10 weeks.
- Each receiver costs roughly $100, showing that scalable tracking is inexpensive and easily deployable.
- Attackers can combine passive tracking with software-defined radios for targeted surveillance or mass monitoring.
- Spoofing TPMS signals could trigger false flat-tire alerts to force stops and enable theft or hijacking.
Read More: https://www.securityweek.com/researchers-uncover-method-to-track-cars-via-tire-sensors/