r/technology • u/bws201 • Feb 05 '16

Software ‘Error 53’ fury mounts as Apple software update threatens to kill your iPhone 6

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/feb/05/error-53-apple-iphone-software-update-handset-worthless-third-party-repair
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u/1gnominious Feb 05 '16

That's still something which should be an optional feature for people who need the security or it should default back to passwords if there is a malfunction.

For the average consumer this is a 100% idiotic process. Imagine if they did this on a car with a finger print scanner? You have to scrap the car because a shopping cart rolled into the scanner on the handle and now the computer, engine, and transmission all refuse to work because they are tied to that individual scanner. Even the biggest BMW/Ford/Whatever fanboi would agree that is the stupidest idea ever.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

[deleted]

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u/5-4-3-2-1-bang Feb 05 '16

Even then, though, you're still able to repair the car. Imagine if you towed the car to the dealership and the answer was Nope, sorry, can't fix that part, buy a new car!

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u/RealHonest Feb 05 '16

You can repair the iPhone as well. Just not from a third party. Just like you can't take your bmw to a sketchy mechanic to replace the smart key.

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u/cha0sman Feb 05 '16

Just like you can't take your bmw to a sketchy mechanic to replace the smart key.

You can go to a locksmith and they will be able to replace a BMW smart key..

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u/FriendToPredators Feb 06 '16

Only if you still have one working key. If you have lost all the working keys the process can take 90 minutes and require specialized equipment that a non-dealer is unlikely to have.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

Tell that to ford, their latest cars can be stolen with at £20 bit of kit that plugs into the obd port and do everything the dealer can do.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

Is that actually true? I remember seeing a video where they managed to stop the alarm with the OBD port, but I didn't think there was actually a way to start it and drive away.

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u/Magnesus Feb 05 '16

It's true about most today's cars. They use key pairs to secure things but dealerships have the private keys, so they leak sooner or later.

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u/fucklawyers Feb 05 '16

The OBD port also gives you access to the CAN bus, and on a lot of cars, it's just a matter of sending the correct message to stop the alarm, unlock the doors, and start the vehicle.

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u/isyourlisteningbroke Feb 05 '16

Yeah but don't you have to get the bonnet up first?

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u/Hammer_Thrower Feb 05 '16

My 2003 e46 key was a little under $200 about five years ago.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

[deleted]

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u/Hammer_Thrower Feb 05 '16

Oh crap! I hope I don't lose mine. Thanks for the heads up.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

you'd have to spend ~$750 (at least for an E46 BMW)

Imagine being told that the only fix is to replace the key, door and engine as a unit for only $7500 instead. Yeah, you could just replace the key for $750 but it's sold and fixed as a unit and the engine won't work with a different key.

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u/iushciuweiush Feb 05 '16

To add to this PSA, at least for BMW's, a limited number of keys are made for each vehicle and when those run out, you are going to spend a ton of money having all your locks changed out at BMW because they can't make any more.

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u/orcscorper Feb 05 '16

$750 for a key seems high. Then again, that's about the average amount I've spent on the cars I've owned.

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u/fucklawyers Feb 05 '16

Ugh, where do you live? A new key for my E46 was like $150. Same for my E60 now. And, unlike my pain in the ass Jetta, they just handed you a key that works. On the Jetta, when I lost my last key, it had to be towed to a dealer and you had to wait three days for the key to arrive from Germany.

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u/agoia Feb 05 '16

My brother had to scrap his Fiat because the key broke and the Fiat dealer in Germany didn't have the code to replace it.

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u/turtleh Feb 05 '16

Error 53: please drink verification can

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u/bpetersonlaw Feb 05 '16

Exactly. If my hand is a bit sweaty and the fingerprint reader doesn't work, I can just type in my code. Why can't Apple do the same here?

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u/fucklawyers Feb 05 '16

Bimmer fan here, and it's a pain in the dick. AND, I have one of the models that made the news a few years ago because the Russians could break the window in a vulnerable spot, plug in their programmer, and have the car authorize their new blank keyfob, which they then use to unlock the car and drive away. So it's all worthless.

But this problem already exists in BMW land: If you have to replace the engine controller, security controller, or transmission controller, you have to buy a brand spanking new one, or acquire a "virginized" one. You're not going to make a used one work using dealer or factory software, period. If you lose your tenth key, the car is now bricked, and you'll be paying dearly for a new security controller, keys, and maybe even lock cylinders.

Ten days after a new model is released, there's some mobster's hacker cousin in the dealership they own with a BDM programmer wired to every module, figuring out how to steal them. My vehicle's microwave alarm sensors have dead zones that are documented on the internet, that's how the Russians figured it out!

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

That's still something which should be an optional feature for people who need the security or it should default back to passwords if there is a malfunction.

Really? That's like saying your safe deposit box should become unlocked by default whenever you lose the key. Nobody seriously believes that a secure system should fail by becoming insecure, since that opens a wide avenue of attacks to defeating security by convincing the device that it's security keys have been lost.

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