Lexus's SmartAccess System

[11001001]

I'm sure by now, most North American AO-ers have seen the Lexus commercial where the guy walks over to his car, places his finger under the handle and the door opens.

Watching this commercial, I got excited - not about the Lexus (I could never afford one) - but about the integration of biometric security sytems into an automobile. Boy, was I was mislead.
I looked up the SmartAccess System on Lexus's website, and found this:

How does the SmartAccess System work on the 2004 LS 430?

"Smart Key", a keyless entry and ignition system, has been made available for the 2004 LS 430. The following describes the proper operation of the system. The system has been designed to have a two-step unlock process. To unlock the door:

1. Approach the vehicle (with a registered master key in your possession) and grasp the door handle.

2. After hearing the security system unlock confirmation, pull the handle open.
If the handle is pulled quickly (prior to the unlock confirmation), the door may not open on the first pull of the handle. The Smart Key system has a unique key. Some important notes about this key include: In some rare cases, equipment (located outside of the vehicle) operating on similar frequencies may affect the performance of the system. Should this occur, the Hard Key Shank (located within the Smart Key) can always be used to enter the vehicle, and the Smart Key can be inserted into the ignition cylinder to start the vehicle. Smart Key function is only available for Master Keys. When using a sub-key, the standard operation is to use the remote keyless entry buttons to unlock the vehicle, and then to insert the key into the ignition cylinder for ignition. Placing the key in close proximity to a microwave oven may reduce key battery life.

It's not biometrics at all. It's a transmitter that unlocks the car as you get close to it.


So, any thoughts on holes/vulnerabilities?

I found this one on the website which I thought was interesting:

Does my SpeedPass interfere with the SmartAccess System on the 04 LS 430?

In some cases, when customers fuel their vehicles at Mobil filling stations that use the Antenna-style Speedpass system, the customer may experience poor performance of the Smart Key system. Improvements in the system have been made to correct the following symptoms:
Remote Keyless Entry (conventional wireless transmitter) functions intermittently inoperative.
Keyless ignition function intermittently inoperative.

[moxnix]

Its like a garage door opener, except its transmitting all the time. Wait for the first law suit when the battery dies in it while driving down the road and the car suddenly shuts off and all the doors lock.....big accident and big money.

And like garage door openers, it will be a very short time before the car thiefs will have a master controller that allows them tojust walk up and drive off any of them.

[MilitantEidolon]

Yeah me and my brother were talking about the stupidity behind this crap. Infact in one of the latest 2600 mags it goes indepth in how to hack a Mercedes Benz with proximity locks with a universal remote. This is rather pathetic and sounds like a horrible idea.

Shame on car manufacturors.

- MilitantEidolon

[thread_killer]

Well I guess I won't be getting a new Lexus this weekend then.

Damn....now what am I going to do?

[XTC46]

The key just unlocks the door remotley it doesnt start the car. and it doesnt mean that the key actually transmits, it could be a codded key (kind of like the key cards used in many offices) and under the handle is where the scanner is. It is better then a normal key becasue it cant be punched out or something (well not without much more difficulty).