Bentley, Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche and other Automobile Brands Security Weakness Discovered - But Covered Up

Megamos Cryptology, the science behind the electronic security of transponders for most vehicle systems available worldwide and preferred by many of the larger automobile manufacturers, has been cracked.

Scientists from the University of Birmingham, had planned to release their new whitepaper at the Usenix Security Symposium in Washington DC in August until a last minute high court injunction by the UK.
Volkswagen, one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers and the principal litigant, claimed the scientific discovery's publication could severely impact the security of vehicles, including four of their luxury car brands, Porsche, Bentley, Audi and Lamborghini.

The scientists involved argued that the technology responsible for leading to their discovery, called "chip slicing", has been available on the internet since 2009. Essentially, chip slicing is like reverse engineering technology, which has been used for many years by countries that do not respect patent laws, to build often cheaper, inferior versions of electronic gadgets and sell to the wider markets.

The argument, the scientists put forward, that insider knowledge (industry and criminal) of the methods to determine a vehicles security weakness should be tabled to potential buyers and current owners of automobiles, was dismissed by the High Court, who sided with Volkswagen. Mr Justice Birss said he recognized the scientists right to publish, but it will mean "that car crime will be facilitated".

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