The Code Grabber got me--so how does it work, and where do these kids get 'em? help!!
Willie Schmit, CRL
Jim Quehl wrote:
>
> Last week my car stereo (except deck) was stolen at a mall. The windoes
> and alarm were all intact. The cop said it was a Code Grabber that defeated
> my alarm system. If anyone knows anything about these devices, ie where
> they're bought, how common are they ect. please tell me, I feel quite stupid
> over the whole thing
>
> thanks in advance!!A code grabber (also known by other names) is a device that is set up to
act like the device that it will mime. Some are Radio Frequency devices
- some are Infra-red devices. You stand in front of your car and send a
group of pulses to the device in your car (RF or I/R) and it wakes up or
goes to sleep. A villian can intercept that series of pulses and
(depending on the device) "play it back" through a transmitter of the
same technology or it will display the settings on your transmitter -
which is manually "loaded" into a stolen transmitter and poof your car
alarm is disabled. There is also another technology - a broad-band
signal (in the usual ranges)(bit stream - word length - frequency) is
transmitted by a small RF device - it sends a group - then another - then
another (you get the idea) this technique is called trolling or Monte
Carlo - because it relies in luck.
The device is attached to a laptop PC and it can sent thousands of
signals a minute - 1 guy in a car and 4 just lurking around (maybe in
cars too) can find a "hit" in a few seconds in a big parking lot full of
alarms - that is why they are used extensively in malls and Football
stadiums!
aa-2@no_spam.deltanet.com@deltanet.com
In <336f9...@news2.ibm.net>, do...@forget.your.towel writes:
>In <5klun6$26...@elmo.cadvision.com>, on 05/06/97
>
>>Last week my car stereo (except deck) was stolen at a mall. The windoes
>>and alarm were all intact. The cop said it was a Code Grabber that
>>defeated my alarm system. If anyone knows anything about these devices,
>>ie where they're bought, how common are they ect. please tell me, I feel
>>quite stupid over the whole thing
>
>codes that are transmitted in their area (range). The receiver will
>display the numeric code that your alarm 'setter' transmits to activate
>the alarm. Then the thief can use a transmitter to de-activate the alarm,
>open the garage door or create a cloned cell phone. That is the simple
>explanation.
Chances are the cop was guessing about a code grabber being used.
I'm curious as to how they got into your car--you said they didn't
break the glass, and I doubt they carried a full set of car opening
tools.
Was the alarm on when you returned to your car? Does your system
arm itself automatically? Is it possible you might have forgotten
to turn it on? No offense, but I've done that myself.
If you're worried about code grabbers, several of the top manufacturers
offer car alarms with anti-code grabbing features. These systems
change the code automatically each time you turn the alarm on or off.
The transmitter and receiver know which code is valid for the next
use, but other people won't.
aa-2@no_spam.deltanet.com@deltanet.com
In <5knebq$j...@hume.nmia.com>, "Willie Schmit, CRL" <"info"@anchor-new mexico.com> writes:
There is also another technology - a broad-band
>signal (in the usual ranges)(bit stream - word length - frequency) is
>transmitted by a small RF device - it sends a group - then another - then
>another (you get the idea) this technique is called trolling or Monte
>Carlo - because it relies in luck.
>The device is attached to a laptop PC and it can sent thousands of
>signals a minute - 1 guy in a car and 4 just lurking around (maybe in
>cars too) can find a "hit" in a few seconds in a big parking lot full of
>alarms - that is why they are used extensively in malls and Football
>stadiums!
Better car alarms have for years incorporated "anti-scan" technology
to protect against this sort of attack. The receiver monitors for
an excessive amount of radio signals on its frequency and shuts itself
down until things calm down. Even the correct code will be ignored.
It's the same principle as the wrong code lockout timer in electronic
combination locks: you can't just keep pushing buttons until it opens.
kes...@prodigy.com
Quick note: This is a Good Reason to think long and hard about whether
you really want a radio control on your alarm system. Yeah, it's convenient
.. but until they develop a cryptographic challenge-and-response system,
such as the protections now used for secure Internet communications, I
Don't Like 'Em on principle.
(Note that In Theory it's easy to develop a system that's much more
secure than the car's physical locks. It would just push the cost up.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Joseph J. Kesselman http://pages.prodigy.com/keshlam/
"This note is a production of Novalabs Consulting, which is solely
responsible for its content. Opinions not necessarily those of IBM."
YOADERS
the way to defeat ALL of this code grabber tech is to install a simple
electrical kill-switch. a very discreet concealed toggle will cause a
break between your starter and ignition or battery and starter. they might
eventually find the switch.....but by then you can be bustin caps on their
chests!
aa-2@no_spam.deltanet.com@deltanet.com
In <5kr6t2$cr6$3...@watnews2.watson.ibm.com>, kes...@prodigy.com@ writes:
>Quick note: This is a Good Reason to think long and hard about whether
>you really want a radio control on your alarm system. Yeah, it's convenient
>such as the protections now used for secure Internet communications, I
>Don't Like 'Em on principle.
Clifford's anti-code-grabbing system uses a 52 bit digital code
(4.5 quadrillion possible codes) and a pseudorandom encryption
scheme so that the same code is never transmitted (or accepted)
twice...at least, not in your lifetime. That's probably secure
enough to make the car thief reach for a gun instead of a
code grabber...
The Locksmith®
YOADERS wrote:
>
> the way to defeat ALL of this code grabber tech is to install a simple
> electrical kill-switch. a very discreet concealed toggle will cause a
> break between your starter and ignition or battery and starter. they might
> eventually find the switch
I have found that the tranfer box is even a better place to put the kill
switch. You can't even visiably see if the vehicle has a switch unless
you unmount the box and turn it over.
For those of you who are unaware, the transfer box controls the fuel
injectors. If you have a switch mounted to control the injectors, I
don't care how good of a thief you think you are, you will be going no
where if the injectors aren't working. HA!HA!HA!HA!
The Locksmith®
John A. Wasser
>> Last week my car stereo (except deck) was stolen at a mall. The windoes
>> and alarm were all intact. The cop said it was a Code Grabber
> I'm curious as to how they got into your car--you said they didn't
> break the glass, and I doubt they carried a full set of car opening
> tools.
I would expect that the car also has remote door locks.
In article <19970508063...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
yoa...@aol.com (YOADERS) wrote:
> the way to defeat ALL of this code grabber tech is to install a simple
> electrical kill-switch. a very discreet concealed toggle will cause a
> break between your starter and ignition or battery and starter. they might
> eventually find the switch.....but by then you can be bustin caps on their
> chests!
How would that have kept the car stereo from being stolen?
John A. Wasser, Software Engineer
was...@tiac.net http://www.tiac.net/users/wasser
"I work on IBM PC clones but I use Macintoshes"
Find out about the Woodside Literary Agency Stalkers:
http://www.geocities.com/~hitchcockc/story.html#fund
John Norman
: For those of you who are unaware, the transfer box controls the fuel
: injectors. If you have a switch mounted to control the injectors, I
: don't care how good of a thief you think you are, you will be going no
: where if the injectors aren't working. HA!HA!HA!HA!
You could also pull one of your relays. This should not be obvious
at all, and seems to be an improvement over the old "take the coil wire
with you" trick.
John
Psilocyber
John A. Wasser wrote:
>
> >> Last week my car stereo (except deck) was stolen at a mall. The windoes
> >> and alarm were all intact. The cop said it was a Code Grabber
This is my take on the "code grabbing" problem....
Professional car thieves use "code grabbing" technology to gain
entry (on keyless entry) to the vehicle (and often de-activate the
alarm) Remote transmitters that are used to unlock/lock doors or turn
on/off an alarm transmit data to the vehicle. The data sent by these
transmitters can be intercepted by someone with not-so-specialized
scanning and recording equipment. There are set frequencies for the
transmitters that the car makers are limited to (FCC specified) - most
all in the 300-400 Mhz range (Which makes it easier for the theives -
esp. if they are after certain makes of cars) It is almost worthless
that many of these keyless entry and alarm systems generate a code of
sorts that prevents other transmitters from working on your car - even
though the transmisson coming from your transmitter may be unique - if
someone knows the frequency of your transmitter, all the thief does is
monitor that frequency, be in range of your transmitter at the point of
time when you hit that button to turn on your alarm or lock your doors,
record the transmitted data and that is about all needed. The data that
was recorded is re-transmitted on the same frequency (even a hand-held
HAM radio can take care of this) and your alarm is now off or doors
unlocked. I highly doubt that the people who took your stuff were code
grabbers. People with this type of high tech means are usually the same
guys who are after entire cars like newer high-end models with tough
factory of aftermarket theft prevention equipment. The newer anti-scan
or anti-code grabbing alarm/keyless entry systems offer such prevention
by allowing a randomly generated code to only be used once, and/or by
randomly changing frequencies.
I have heard of theft rings actually going as far as trying to decipher
the methods remote transmitters use to generate random codes for their
keyless/alarm systems. On the same note I have heard that the Ford PATS
is not totally theft resistant (or soon will be)....
