Hacker finds way to unlock Teslas and start them

Tesla customers might love the carmakers’ nifty keyless-entry system, but one cybersecurity researcher has demonstrated how the same technology could allow thieves to drive off with certain models of the electric vehicles.

A hack effective on the Tesla Model 3 and Y cars would allow a thief to unlock a vehicle, start it and speed away, according to Sultan Qasim Khan, principal security consultant at the Manchester, U.K.-based security firm NCC Group.

By redirecting communications between a car owner’s mobile phone, or key fob, and the car, outsiders can fool the entry system into thinking the owner is near the vehicle.

The hack, Khan said, isn’t specific to Tesla, though he demonstrated the technique to Bloomberg News on one of its car models. Rather, it’s the result of his tinkering with Tesla’s keyless entry system, which relies on what’s known as a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol.

There’s no evidence that thieves have used the hack to improperly access Tesla vehicles. The carmaker didn’t respond to a request for comments. NCC provided details of its findings to its clients in a note on Sunday, an official there said.

Tesla in April acknowledged that “relay attacks are known limitation of the passive entry system,” according to NCC Group.

Khan said he had disclosed the potential for attack to Tesla and that company officials didn’t deem the issue a significant risk. To fix it, the carmaker would need to alter its hardware and change its keyless entry system, Khan said.

The revelation comes after another security researcher, David Colombo, revealed a way of hijacking some functions on Tesla vehicles, such as opening and closing doors and controlling music volume.