Rental cars can be remotely started, tracked, and more after customers return them
Summary
In October, Ars chronicled the story of a man who was able to remotely start, stop, lock, unlock, and track a Ford explorer he rented and returned five months earlier. Four days after returning a Ford Mustang, the FordPass app installed on the phone of Masamba Sinclair continues to give him control of the car. And since the privacy and security risks fall solely on the new customer, nefarious people returning the car may want to maintain remote access. An article published last week by KrebsOnSecurity—recounting a man who continued to have remote access to a Ford Focus four years after his lease expired—suggests the problem isn’t isolated. People renting or buying new cars would do well to read the manuals carefully to learn precisely how remote access works and how to ensure it’s removed from previous customers.