Palm III proves a hi-tech helper for car thieves

[Richard Fiero <rfiero@pophost.com>]

Taken from
http://www.theregister.co.uk/981204-000007.html

A 3Com Palm III and software that lets the handheld control TVs and VCRs
through its infrared port are all you need to nick a car these days, it seems.

Danish IT journalist Lars Sorensen made the discovery when testing the
sofwtare's legitimate uses. The software samples a TV's remote control
signals so it can replicate them -- Sorensen wondered if it would do the
same with a car's infrared lock and found that it would.

Here in the UK, estimates from the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre,
quoted in New Scientist magazine, suggest that three million of the 22
million cars on the road are vulnerable to Palm-toting thieves.

Interestingly, older cars that are more at risk than newer models. Most
modern vehicles contain locking systems that change the locking code every
time the key is used from sequences of 10 to the power 64 (a one with 64
zeros after it) making it virtually impossible to predict the code at any
given instance.

That said, Sorensen was able to enter a 1998 model, so no one can be sure
they are safe.