London, July 27 (ANI): A British computer scientist, who cracked security system of cars including Porsches, Audis, Bentleys and Lamborghinis, has been banned from publishing an academic paper revealing the secret codes as it could lead to the theft of millions of vehicles.
High court imposed injunction on Flavio Garcia from the University of Birmingham after he cracked the security system by discovering the unique algorithm that allows the car to verify the identity of the ignition key, the Guardian reported.
The case was launched by Volkswagen's parent against Garcia and two other cryptography experts from a Dutch university.
It complained that the publication could "allow someone, especially a sophisticated criminal gang with the right tools, to break the security and steal a car".
The cars are protected by a system called Megamos Crypto, an algorithm which works out the codes that are sent between the key and the car.
The UK order is a temporary step in the case against the scientists, who wanted to publish their paper at the well-respected Usenix Security Symposium in Washington DC in August.
The scientists declined to publish a redacted version of their paper - Dismantling Megamos Crypto: Wirelessly Lockpicking a Vehicle Immobiliser - without the codes after they were asked to do so by Volkswagen.
Garcia and his colleagues from the Stichting Katholieke Universiteit, Baris Ege and Roel Verdult, said they were "responsible, legitimate academics doing responsible, legitimate academic work" and their aim was to improve security for everyone, not to give criminals a helping hand at hacking into high-end cars that can cost their owners 250,000 pounds.
Meanwhile, Justice Birss said that he recognised the importance of the right for academics to publish, but it would mean "that car crime will be facilitated." (ANI)
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