Key Fob Relay Attack Prevention With Pattern Matching
2022-01-0132
03/29/2022
- Event
- Content
- Key FOB relay attack is new form of cybersecurity attack which was demonstrated by hacker on many vehicles from different manufacturers. In this type of attack the hacker works in pair. 1 hacker will be near the vehicle and other is positioned near the user who has keys. Hacker initiates the communication between key fob and vehicle by catching signals with RF receiver and retransmitting signals through the Signal generator. This way hacker creates a RF bridge between vehicle and key fob. Since both ECU’s are communicating with each other they assume that user is near car. After security handshake car is unlocked and engine can also be started This paper is a new solution which will provide some degree of defense for this attack. This logic is built around the power level of received signal between the vehicle and key fob. Both vehicle ECU and key fob will have capability to evaluate the power level of received RF signal. Vehicle ECU and KeyFob Ecu’s will evaluate the power level of received signal and will make judgment based on algorithm and decide if user is actually walking towards the vehicle or he is stationary. This algorithm will be used on top of existing security handshake which happens between vehicle ECU and key fob Basic logic is based on measuring power levels of the received signal at vehicle ECU. Power levels will be measured periodically between Vehicle ECU and key fob during both user walking away and user walking towards vehicle. Whenever user walks away from vehicle; any communication between the key fob and vehicle ECU will follow a power pattern. Power level pattern (increase/decrease) is repeated in reverse order when user walks back towards vehicle. Power levels are matched to determine various cases of hacking attempts Technology Benefits (1) More secured communication since logic of power pattern matching is internal to ECU and key fob and hence very difficult to decode (2) With the increasing demand of wireless communication and introduction of autonomous vehicles, any security breach gets wider bad press. This paper is an additional safety mechanism in order to reduce such incidents and gain the trust of consumers
- Citation
- Kulkarni, A., "Key Fob Relay Attack Prevention With Pattern Matching," SAE Technical Paper 2022-01-0132, 2022, .