News The Canadian government wants to ban Flipper Zero-type hacker tools to combat car theft

[Admin]

Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry wants to ban devices such as Flipper Zero, as a means to combat car theft.

The Canadian government wants to ban Flipper Zero-type hacker tools to combat car theft : Read more

 

[peachpuff]

That'll stop them thieves 🙄
How about tougher sentences for car thieves and more inspections of cargo going out of the country?

 

[Giroro]

Hockey sticks can be used to break into homes. Canada should ban hockey.
Also ban Robertson Screwdrivers.
Also ban Quebec.
Ban Alphabet.

Ban everything. Who cares anymore? Did you know that if a hacker gets into your Gmail they can change your recovery information in under 10 seconds and permanently make your entire business/cloud/docs/android/ YouTube - everything permanently inaccessible and non-recoverable in an instant. Because Google has no phone number, email address, or ticket system. Just a completely useless password reset tool that can't do anything to get the account back and a pile of circular, contradictory, outdated help documentation that doesn't resemble the current version of their recovery page.... Which is just a standard login page.
Think about it - if a major media YouTube channel had one disgruntled employee make it to the account security page, they could completely own the business by changing 4 settings and there's nothing anybody can do about it - because even VIP Google users can't contact google without first logging into their locked-out account.

It's wild.
Our entire digital lives operate at extreme risk at all time. So why even bother letting anybody do anything, ever?

 

[ThomasKinsley]

I applaud the Flipper Zero because it shows how insecure our technology infrastructure is. One only needs to tap a credit card with the FZ and it fully clones the card. Can't help but wonder if Canada is banning the device because it makes their security measures look foolish.

 

[bit_user]

Speaking of which, I recall that when drivers licenses and passports started integrating RFID tags, we were warned about the potential for attackers to steal them at a modest distance. Does anyone know the status of such exploits and whether I should really be carrying my cards in a RF-proof metal wallet of some sort?

 

[sitehostplus]

So all they have to do is cross the border to the US, purchase them, and smuggle them back in.

 

[InvalidError]

If you want to stop car thieves from using spoofed fobs, make the protocol bidirectional like private key and certificate exchange for SSL, then tighten protocol timing specs so there isn't enough slack to insert a repeater in-between.

... or even simpler and better IMO: go back to people having to either physically press FOB buttons or put the key in - the key is only RF-active on-demand, no remote activation. The idea that vehicles can be unlocked and started entirely by proximity with the key gives me chills and sounds like manufacturers begging for their vehicles to get stolen.

 

[Notton]

Banning something from entering the country does prevent prevalence.
In turn, it weeds out low skill thieves, and this is the vast majority of them.

It's just like how you can't find Kinder Eggs in USA, but they are available everywhere in Canada.

But yes, RCMP and provincial police have been proven to be self serving and lazy for quite some time now. It would be nice if they did the job they are paid to do.

 

[InvalidError]

But yes, RCMP and provincial police have been proven to be self serving and lazy for quite some time now. It would be nice if they did the job they are paid to do.

It would be great if car manufacturers didn't add intrinsically unsafe features to their vehicles that make them so much easier to steal in the first place.

 

[Furbo]

Simply ban car stealing.

 

[Co BIY]

sounds like manufacturers begging for their vehicles to get stolen.

Thieves usually total a stolen car even if recovered, insurance pays the owner, owner buys a new car, car manufacturer makes a new sale.

Hard to see the down side for the manufacturer. Basically increases fleet turnover at little cost to them and they aren't blamed.

 

[bit_user]

Thieves usually total a stolen car even if recovered, insurance pays the owner, owner buys a new car, car manufacturer makes a new sale.

Hard to see the down side for the manufacturer. Basically increases fleet turnover at little cost to them and they aren't blamed.

If you've never looked at the cost to insure a particular car before buying it... well, I have.

Higher insurance costs can affect a car's sales numbers, and that creates an incentive for manufacturers to care. Maybe it's not a huge incentive, but at least there's a feedback mechanism where theft rates could have a negative financial impact on them.

 

[InvalidError]

Thieves usually total a stolen car even if recovered, insurance pays the owner, owner buys a new car, car manufacturer makes a new sale.

When you make insurance claims, your insurance premiums go up. When you buy cars that are known to get stolen more frequently than others, you also pay higher premiums for theft and vandalism coverage. Insurers may even decline to offer coverage for some of the worst offenders.

Allow theft to become too much of an issue, the global increase in insurance premiums may push vehicle rental and ownership costs beyond many people's reach. It will become a major issue sooner or later.

 

[Co BIY]

When you make insurance claims, your insurance premiums go up. When you buy cars that are known to get stolen more frequently than others, you also pay higher premiums for theft and vandalism coverage. Insurers may even decline to offer coverage for some of the worst offenders.

Allow theft to become too much of an issue, the global increase in insurance premiums may push vehicle rental and ownership costs beyond many people's reach. It will become a major issue sooner or later.

I agree that we all pay for the actions of these miscreants and that's a very bad thing. Not only are the financial losses immense but the stolen cars are instrumental in enabling robberies, burglaries and street violence. Car thieves are violent criminals.

But I stand by my contention that car manufacturer's incentives regarding reducing theft are not strongly aligned with the interests of owners and insurers.

 

[bit_user]

But I stand by my contention that car manufacturer's incentives regarding reducing theft are not strongly aligned with the interests of owners and insurers.

Again, the only way you can say this is that you're apparently wealthy enough that you've never priced out auto insurance while shopping for a car.

Of course, the frequency of thefts will have a bigger or smaller impact, depending on the overall rate of car thefts wherever you live.

BTW, theft isn't the only reason some cars are expensive to insure. Sometimes, repair costs also factor into it.

 

[Co BIY]

If you've never looked at the cost to insure a particular car before buying it... well, I have.

I have as well,l but I know I'm a rare enough bird that my kind are not moving the markets much.

 

[bit_user]

I have as well,l but I know I'm a rare enough bird that my kind are not moving the markets much.

It's not rare. Not if you have a kid who drives or are a young driver, yourself. At that age, car insurance can be a major expense, depending on the type of car.