Canada plans to ban hacking tool Flipper Zero as car theft problem surges

This website reported on February 12 that the Canadian government plans to ban the sale of the hacking tool Flipper Zero and similar devices because they are labeled as tools that thieves can use to steal cars. Flipper Zero is a portable, programmable test tool that helps experiment and debug a variety of hardware and digital devices over multiple protocols, including RFID, radio, NFC, infrared and Bluetooth, and has gained the favor of many geeks and hackers.

Since the launch of the product, users have demonstrated Flipper Zero’s capabilities on social media, including using replay attacks to unlock cars, open garage doors, activate doorbells, and clone various digital keys.

▲ Flipper Zero clones McLaren key fobs and unlocks cars
Canadian Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne recently said: “Criminals have been using sophisticated tools to steal cars, and Canadians have reason to be worried. Today, I Announcing that the import, sale and use of these consumer hacking devices used to commit crimes will be banned." Champagne's announcement comes after the Canadian government hosted a national summit on combating auto theft in Ottawa, Ontario last week. .

According to the Canadian government, approximately 90,000 cars (or one car every six minutes) are reported stolen each year, and car theft costs $1 billion in annual losses, including the cost of insurance to repair and replace stolen cars. Additionally, the number of reports of car theft in Canada has continued to increase since 2021.

The Government of Canada’s Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) department said it will “take all steps to prohibit devices that steal vehicles by copying remote keyless entry wireless signals, such as the Flipper Zero, and work with law enforcement agencies to remove these devices from vehicles.” Removed from the Canadian market. "

2. Flipper Devices COO Alex Kulagin told foreign media BleepingComputer: "Flipper Zero cannot be used to hijack any car, especially cars produced after the 1990s, because their security systems have rolling codes. . Additionally, it requires actively intercepting signals from the owner to capture the original signal, which the Flipper Zero's hardware cannot do, and we have taken the necessary precautions to ensure this. The device will not be used for evil purposes.”
3. According to this site’s report in November last year, Flipper Zero was revealed to be able to create Bluetooth pop-ups that caused Apple’s iPhone/iPad to crash. Apple only mitigated the exploit in the iOS 17.2 update.

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