Reports of Car Theft With $200 Flipper Zero Device Are Greatly Exaggerated

Reports have begun circulating on the internet that malicious individuals can use a $199 device called Flipper Zero (a device we're actually quite fond of) to break into modern cars and steal them.

Certain dark net online stores have started selling “private” firmware for the Flipper Zero, claiming it can hack a wide range of modern cars. The shops claim that the new vulnerabilities can allow anyone to break dynamic protocols, such as the popular KeeLoq.

In a blog post, Flipper claims this information is misleading, though. It states that the methods to break KeeLoq were first published more than 10 years ago, and they're now being redistributed. "These vulnerabilities have nothing to do with real car theft, since they do not allow you to start the engine," the company wrote on its blog.