GM is in the crosshairs of another class action lawsuit, this one alleging that some 2010 model-year and newer vehicles in its lineup – specifically the 2010 to 2023 Chevy Camaro – can have their keyfobs easily hacked, enabling theft of the vehicle without setting off its alarm.
The lawsuit against GM is currently in its earliest stages with a demand for a jury trial filed by Kazerouni Law Group, APC in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, on behalf of plaintiff Judy Cho.
The lawsuit alleges that smartphone-sized cloning devices are available on Amazon and elsewhere online which can be used to detect and copy the Keyless Entry and Keyless Ignition functions of a nearby Chevy Camaro keyfob. This is claimed to be possible because of a defect in the keyfobs, and a lack of protection against hacking, enabling the cloning devices to engage in “tricking the car into believing the genuine key fob is in close proximity.”
The lawsuit filing says the cloning device and its “intercepted signal can be utilized to unlock the car and start the ignition,” the whole process taking “a matter of 20-30 seconds.” The suit says other automakers, citing Range Rover and Jaguar, make keyfobs with wideband protection to prevent hacking, but alleges GM has not used such protection for the Camaro.
The suit quotes Los Angeles Police Department statements describing an abrupt rise in keyfob hacking thefts of Chevy Camaro muscle cars. The department says there has been a 1,185-percent jump in Camaro thefts from 2023 to 2024, rising from 7 thefts to 90.
An LAPD representative said it’s possible to warn Camaro owners about the keyfob vulnerability, but added “what we need is action higher up at the manufacturer level to make sure that it isn’t so easy to clone those fobs to begin with.”
The car of the plaintiff, Judy Cho, was alleged to have been stolen using this method. The Chevy Camaro in question has not yet been recovered and Cho is currently using rideshare, per the filing.
The class action suit claims GM failed to act on this longstanding problem or to adequately notify Chevy Camaro buyers of the risk. The suit demands monetary damages of an amount to be revealed during the trial to be paid to affected owners or lessees of stolen Camaros to be paid by The General, along with a national advertising campaign to warn of the danger and correction of the alleged keyfob defect.
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Comments
If that’s the case, then it should be expanded to all GM vehicles in that year range. The Camaro uses the same old corporate fob that every other car was using in that year range.
How about actually putting down harsher laws and consequences against criminals who steal!!! Right now the criminals are running the show!
What’s the point? Cali DAs will refuse to prosecute them anyway so stiffer laws are worthless. Bluetooth LE 4.2 with 128-bit AES encryption and SKD will end the problem. GM is probably using Legacy Pairing which is not a good idea. BLE has lots of security functions available, they just have to be used.
This is just a money grab ! It’s the companies selling these devices and the criminals buying them ! There will always be auto theft ! If theres a will theres a way !
One hundred and fifty years ago you would hang for stealing a horse. Guess what, nobody stole horses. Just saying.
Well, the recidivism rate was low in these cases.
Great idea make the manufacturers pay for the car thief, somehow it’s their fault that car thief’s don’t get punished enough to make it a deterrent in the state of California! Crime pays in California, this state helps criminals anyway it can. They give housing, food, and cash to criminals…they only punish the tax payer.
Sometimes it doesn’t pay to own the hottest car around.
In the meantime, keep the key in an RF-shielded pouch (a.k.a. “Faraday bag”) when it’s not in the car.
The fobs are cloned by someone nearby when they are used. Storing them in a shielded container would only prevent it from being used by you.
If you use it religiously and are quick to shield the fob when leaving the car, you greatly reduce the window of opportunity for a would-be thief.
Protection with RFI blocking pouches for key FOBS only costs $10 on-line from Amazon – I use one when I drive my Vette.
The big increase in theft in California is understandable, as car thieves are released after booking by the liberal county court system and the guys are back out on the street stealing cars.
The GM Authority article states the hackable keyfobs relate to the 2010 – 2023 Camaros. I have a 2024 Camaro ZL1. Was the problem fixed for 2024 models?
No uses same fob and is interchangeable with an Equinox fob{ exact same fob} which is a little disheartening.
How about hammering anyone that is selling the cloning devices online?
I think I know what device they’re talking about and it’s not inherently used for criminal purposes. It is a programmer’s device that has the ability to read and produce RFID information, IR blaster signals, Bluetooth signals, and much more. It also has the ability to store that information in a database and use it again (hence the ability to “clone,” although that is only one of its many purposes). In a sense, the device is akin to having a radio receiver and transmitter. You can use the transmitter for good and educational purposes, or you can blast your neighborhood with garbage. The illegal behavior should absolutely be punished, but it can be used for good.
Most cars have a rolling code on their key fobs to protect from this attack, so every time you press a button on the key fob, it continuously sends a new signal to the car. The previous signal will not work and thus prevents a cloned signal from gaining control of the car. This security feature has been typical since the 1990s, so for the 2010 Camaro to not have this feature is egregious.
Funny they mention RR. I believe second most stolen car in UK. Maybe that tech doesn’t work as well as the lawsuit claims. Or maybe if you have a hot item, thieves will find a way.
Range Rover apparently has only been using the new technology for a year or two. Apparently, they are having their dealers upgrade 2018 and newer cars/fobs to the new standard. This program along with the technology in the new cars has substantially reduced the number of vehicles stolen.
First time I heard of this working in a car theft. Most cars since the 1990s have had rolling codes to prevent this from happening. It’s pretty poor of GM to not include this feature for a sports car.
In today’s world we need rolling code fobs in every vehicle. Only going to get worse.
21st Century Earth: Don’t punish the felons, punish corporations for not trying hard enough to deter felons.
Somewhere…Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao Zedong and Che Guevara are each laughing hysterically and having a stiff drink.
Maybe having a stick might slow down these low-lifes.
A faraday pouch will not protect you, and fobs already have rolling codes. Thieves use a locksmith device that plugs into the OBD2 port. This device can be bought on Amazon for $400, and can reprogram a new key in half a minute. Thieves don’t need access to your original key at all. They simply smash the window, program a new key, and a minute later they’re gone.
That’s why Camaro driver’s side windows are on national backorder.
Corvettes are also vulnerable to this, as are most GM cars. However, most aren’t as desirable, as generally cars are being targeted for easy parts resale (CT5V Blackwing, Escalade V, Camaro SS/ZL1, any Corvette).
Curious how California is where the Camaro theft problem exists. It’s obviously the cars’ fault and in no way an indication of failed criminal policies and the downfall of society in that beautiful state.
Just as many Camaros are being stolen in Texas and Florida
stole mine by disconnecting the readily available car alarm under the hood, and the car fob