Inaccurate reporting in "Gone in 60 seconds"

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Jonathan B Spira <jspira () basex com>
Date: May 6, 2006 10:06:32 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Inaccurate reporting in "Gone in 60 seconds"


Dave

Fact checking certainly was out to lunch on this.

The article conflates a bunch of facts and errors so it is hard to  
assess how real the danger is.

For starters, BMW doesn't make an S5 - Beckham had two X5s stolen  
from him.  That would normally be a minor detail except for the fact  
that the X5 doesn't come with Comfort Access (n.b. BMW's new 3er,  
5er, 6er, and 7er all have the Comfort Access keyless system) - even  
though the story positions the Beckham thefts as if they were due to  
Comfort Access.

I saw a similar article  on leftlanenews.com days ago - also citing  
the X5 thefts as if they were due to Comfort Access - so it sounds as  
if this is just going to make the rounds despite faulty reporting.

Regards/Mit freundlichen Grüßen/Szívélyes üdvözlet/Cordialement/ 
Cordiali saluti/Saludos/Vänliga hälsningar

/s/ Jonathan
Jonathan B. Spira
CEO and Chief Analyst
Basex, Inc.
y jspira () basex com
( +1 (212) 725-2600 x113
8 http://www.basex.com



David Farber <dave () farber net>
06.05.06 19:30
Please respond to
dave () farber net


To
ip () v2 listbox com
cc
Subject
[IP] : Gone in 60 seconds--the high-tech version







Begin forwarded message:

From: Glenn Tenney CISSM CISM <gt_IP060107 () think org>
Date: May 6, 2006 7:14:23 PM EDT
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Gone in 60 seconds--the high-tech version

( for IP if you wish )

http://news.com.com/Gone+in+60+seconds-the+high-tech+version/
2100-7349_3-6069287.html

Gone in 60 seconds--the high-tech version

By Robert Vamosi
Story last modified Sat May 06 06:00:03 PDT 2006
<SNIP>
Real-world examples
Meet Radko Soucek, a 32-year-old car thief from the Czech Republic. He's
alleged to have stolen several expensive cars in and around Prague using
a laptop and a reader. Soucek is not new to auto theft--he has been
stealing cars since he was 11 years old. But he recently turned
high-tech when he realized how easily it could be done.

Ironically, what led to his downfall was his own laptop, which held
evidence of all his past encryption attempts. With a database of
successful encryption strings already stored on his hard drive, he had
the ability to crack cars he'd never seen before in a relatively short
amount of time.

And Soucek isn't an isolated example. Recently, soccer player David
Beckham had not one, but two, antitheft-engineered BMW S5 SUVs stolen.
The most recent theft occurred in Madrid, Spain. Police believe an auto
theft gang using software instead of hardware pinched both of Beckham's
BMWs.
<SNIP>


-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/