Thursday, April 10, 2008

Tracking Cars with Tire Pressure Monitors

HexView writes in Spy My Ride that the Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) could be used to track vehicles. There's a pressure sensor installed in each tire by the valve and to communicate with the car they use a radio transmitter to avoid complex wiring to a rotating tire. Each tire has a unique id it transmits.

"If you live in the Unites States, your next vehicle will contain TPMS whether you like or not -- in April 2005, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a rule requiring automakers to install TPMS sensors in all new passenger cars and trucks starting in September 2007."

"Guess what? With minor limitations, TPMS can be used for the very purpose of tracking your vehicle in real time with no substantial investments! TPMS can also be used to measure the speed of your vehicle. Similarly to highway/freeway speed sensors that measure traffic speed, TPMS readers can be installed in pairs to measure how quick your vehicle goes over a predefined distance. Technically, it is even plausible to use existing speed sensors to read TPMS data!

Note that unlike traffic sensors that measure speed anonymously, TPMS can be used to measure speed of each individual vehicle because car manufacturers know serial numbers of every part in your vehicle, including unique IDs of TPMS sensors.

Now, no article is complete unless it mentions terrorists. Bad news, everyone (terrorists of all levels of badness -- rejoice)! It is now super easy to blow up someone's car. There's no need to fix the explosive to the vehicle. No more wires and buttons. No human factor. A high-school kid with passion for electronics can assemble a device that will trigger the detonator when the right vehicle passes by. (Movie directors, beware - I will go after you if I see this in the next blockbuster)."

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