AfterShok

But the system didn't read that it was or anything, it was as if they had a set of keys and actually UNLOCKED my cobalt... is this possible? because my parents think i forgot to lock my doors when im 100% positive i locked them... thankfully they only stole my change which was about 3$

Boosted4

That sucks. At least they didn't take anything of value or smash a window or something. By system, what do you mean? Aftermarket alarm system?

AfterShok

no like the standard system, doesn't it have an alarm? lol

jmfselu

you know, people can intercept the signal that passes from your key fob to your car alarm. If they get that, they can unlock without a sound. Not saying this happened to you but these thieves are getting sneakier and smarter.

AfterShok

I bet thats what they did, ive seen another SS drive by lately and one day he actually stopped infront of my house i think to look at mine..

emiller

Does your lock button on the key fob actually work? If the contacts are broken it won't work til you resolder them.

OrngBalt

For $3 I wouldn't have even said anything to the parents.

TheTruth7

Thank god for garages.

Boosted4

^^^ This.

FasterIsBetter

My car was broken into...or atleast someone tried while I was away. Theres marks on my passenger door where someone either took a slimjim or clothes hanger to it. Nothing came up missing so I guess they either set off the alarm or got tired of trying to pull up our stubborn locks, lol! Either way I was pissed paint was missing off my door.

paintballerr78

iTrader: (4)

ya my buddies srt4 was broken into they stuck something behind the whole door handle setup and popped the whole thing off...Then they attempted to break into mine but by that time someone called the cops

AfterShok

my parents were the ones that noticed, my whole glove box was emptied on my seats and i had so much crap thrown everywhere... i had a lot of expensive football equipments and such in the trunk so thank god they didnt go in there lol

JL-KA

iTrader: (4)

Make sure your door locks are actually working. My wife's car(not a cobalt but still GM) had all 4 locks malfunctioning. It would honk and you could hear the motors working but it wasn't actually locking(side note: the dealer had the car for SEVEN WEEKS to figure that out, including having to repaint both sides of the car because they park them all 8 inches apart in the lot!)

steven2008ss

true definitely get an alarm with shock sensors tho

viper is pretty good for that

JL-KA

iTrader: (4)

When I get a car worthwhile it will have the best available.

Stamina

That's not as easy to do these days though. The fobs have a rolling code on them.

OP: Exact same thing happened to me. The fobs have very weak contact solders, so if it clanks against something a lot over time, or if you drop your keys on things it can sometimes break that connection.

It should be noted that if you lock the car with the door lock button and close the door, the doors will lock, but the alarm doesn't activate unless you used the fob.

tony2toness/sc

our stock alarms have i think like 1 or 5 different codes now this is what i did to my cousins car didnt think it would actually work but it does record the signal that comes from the alarm to a phone or a recorder and replay it back near the car and the car will unlock without having to steal your key or alarm but only works on stock alarm systems

Stamina

What year was the fob/vehicle? They revamped the fob encryption method a few years back.

tony2toness/sc

its a stock alarm system 85% of the people change to an aftermarket alarm system you think there really going to put a lot of thought into the alarms

Stamina

I don't know a single local owner that's changed that alarm on their Cobalt. That and the current VATS system is pretty spiffy, with the key transponder and all.

You didn't answer the question btw..

tony2toness/sc

well all of my cars have viper alarms and i dont know what year fob/vehicle but the majority of the vehicles stolen are with stock alarms before the aftermarket alarm system got more technicle all you need a strong enough magnet to reset the system and your in now or recording the the code with a phone or a recorder now the aftermarket alarm systems have like 6.something thousand codes and is constanly changing you think a stock alarm is going to do that

Stamina

I do. Fobs have been equipped with a 40-bit hopping/rolling codes since as early as the mid 90's. I checked and GM fobs support this as well. Here's a spec sheet from a TI chip used in fobs that did 40-bit encryption back in 1996. http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/slws011d/slws011d.pdf

40-bit codes allow for 2^40 combinations. 2^40 works out to around one trillion combinations. Adding additional key fobs to the car or adding the ability to make the fob work if you accidentally press a button on it does decrease the number through how the fobs work. Usually this is because of a 256 pseudo-random code look-ahead. Even with that taken into account though, you're still looking at around one billion combinations.

So I'm not saying it's impossible or didn't happen... or was even a fluke, but the code is unlikely to repeat much if at all for the life of the vehicle. I do agree though that in general any form of security is only as secure as the weakest point. I used to specialize in network and wireless security as a part of my old job, so this was something that I had studied a while back, as it was an interest of mine.

07SSYellow

iTrader: (7)

hmmm thats weird, everytime i forget to lock my car i call onstar and have them lock it for me lol

Stamina

They do that through the car's LAN though. That works a bit different. That's also a part of how VATS works.

As far as OnStar communicating with the car, that is done through a cell connection. It used to be through Verizon Wireless, though I don't know if it still is. Verizon uses CDMA as their standard, which is quite secure in and of itself. Perhaps somebody could spoof a fake OnStar call to the system though. If somebody disassembled the OnStar box then they could perhaps get the ESN off of it, which in turn could help them crack it. I don't think to date anybody has ever cracked CDMA without knowing the ESN, and the ESN isn't transmitted during communication, only the phone number, which the cell system matches to the ESN already on file on their side.

yellow06

My buddies LT key can unlock my SS and turn all of the instruments on, but it wont start it. Same with my key into his car. kinda f**ked if you ask me.