While the researchers’ two attacks both focus on merely unlocking cars rather than stealing them, Garcia points out that they might be combined with techniques like the one he and different teams revealed at the Usenix conferences in 2012 and last year. That research exposed vulnerabilities in the HiTag2 and Megamos “immobilizer” systems that prevent cars from being driven without a key, and would allow millions of Volkswagens and other vehicles ranging from Audis to Cadillacs to Porsches to be driven by thieves, provided they could get access to the inside of the vehicle.