Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
Transportation

All of Russia's Porsches Were Bricked By a Mysterious Satellite Outage (autoblog.com) 117

An anonymous reader shared this report from Autoblog: Imagine walking out to your car, pressing the start button, and getting absolutely nothing. No crank, no lights on the dash, nothing. That's exactly what happened to hundreds of Porsche owners in Russia last week. The issue is with the Vehicle Tracking System, a satellite-based security system that's supposed to protect against theft. Instead, it turned these Porsches into driveway ornaments.

The issue was first reported at the end of November, with owners reporting identical symptoms of their cars refusing to start or shutting down soon after ignition. Russia's largest dealership group, Rolf, confirmed that the problem stems from a complete loss of satellite connectivity to the VTS. When it loses its connection, it interprets the outage as a potential theft attempt and automatically activates the engine immobilizer.

The issue affects all models and engine types, meaning any Porsche equipped with the system could potentially disable itself without warning. The malfunction impacts Porsche models dating back to 2013 that have the factory VTS installed... When the VTS connection drops, the anti-theft protocol kicks in, cutting fuel delivery and locking down the engine completely.

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

All of Russia's Porsches Were Bricked By a Mysterious Satellite Outage

Comments Filter:
  • by RightwingNutjob ( 1302813 ) on Monday December 08, 2025 @12:44AM (#65842569)

    what happens if a Westerner drives his Porsche into a tunnel (they have those in Germany, for instance) or parks in an underground garage?

    • by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

      I suspect this is something of a "takes a while to kick in".

      Still makes little sense. Porches aren't really daily driver cars, they're leisure cars. So you put one in a garage for winter, and it won't start in the spring until you tow it outside?

      • by simlox ( 6576120 ) on Monday December 08, 2025 @01:05AM (#65842605)
        You think of the old 911 sports car. Now many Porche are 4 seaters and used as family cars. They also make SUVs. I now see them as the car you buy when Audi, BMW or Mechedes are too cheap, and want to show you can afford more.
        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

          This does in fact concern both 911 and cayenne.

          >This includes popular models like the Cayenne, Macan, Panamera, Taycan, 911, and the 718 Cayman and Boxster.

          Also methods of fixing it suggest that there's just something borked with servers or the modules themselves:

          >Some drivers reported success after disconnecting their car batteries for up to 10 hours, while others managed to restore function by disabling or rebooting the VTS module entirely. Rolf dealerships have been instructing technicians to manua

      • Still, you could be in an underground csr park. Sometimes for a few days.

      • Definitely not. I'm seeing the same kidney-shaped CUVs that everyone else makes, but with a Porsche badge on it.

        What is scary is... what happens if a satellite is knocked out or Internet connectivity destroyed? Especially in a disaster.

        • What is scary is... what happens if a satellite is knocked out or Internet connectivity destroyed? Especially in a disaster.

          Perhaps there is a personal physical override in those cases. It's certainly a good "remedy" for people who don't pay their subscriptions.

          "The system takes between one and four hours to install, and Porsche says it’s about 1,000 euros ($1,140) to fit, with a monthly 20 euro ($23) service charge. "

  • Oh no! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Anyway...

  • by gurps_npc ( 621217 ) on Monday December 08, 2025 @12:48AM (#65842575) Homepage

    I can see a service where you can send a satellite message to disable your car/brick it. But a system where if you lose satellite communication for enough time it bricks itself automatically?

    I can see a hundred ways this can go bad - starting with what actually happened.

    Horrible business plan.

    • It's only a horrible business plan if you're not being subsidized by people who like the idea of capturing that freedom.
      • Well the company was founded by Nazis...

        • Erm no

          Adolf Rosenberger[1]Â(8 April 1900 - 6 December 1967) was a successfulÂJewishÂbusinessmanÂand co-founder of theÂPorscheÂcar company.

    • by ClickOnThis ( 137803 ) on Monday December 08, 2025 @12:58AM (#65842597) Journal

      I suspect Porsche was trying to stop thieves who would disconnect the satellite link in order to keep the car from receiving a kill-switch signal.

      Disable the car when it loses the satellite link, and that plan is foiled. That'll teach 'em! Oh wait...

      • Yeah, the design makes sense, just like the way house alarm is wired, where a sensor opens the circuit in case of a problem, so that if you cut the wire it still triggers the alarm.

        They probably thought that satellite outage is way less likely than someone jamming the signal to steal the car and they probably were right, just that when the satellite outage happened, it affected many people at the same time and made the news, while a few cars being stolen by jamming the signal would not have made the news.

        • ....And now everyone knows how to disable the VTS and steal a working Porsche. Streisand Effect.
        • by buss_error ( 142273 ) on Monday December 08, 2025 @06:05AM (#65842837) Homepage Journal

          the way house alarm is wired

          "Value Priced" installed alarms do that. I installed and maintained alarms in the 70's. I used two types of systems, for low security, a resistor at the bitter end of the zone. That way a open or short would set off the zone. The other was a oscillating R/C or C/L circuit that was tuned to a unique frequency for that alarm on that zone. Lately, the zones (wired or wireless) use TLS.
          As to reporting, most were metallic pair from TelCo (kinda expensive) with line security (variable oscillating), or used dial up every few minutes. A special "OverWatch" mode for dial up was available for an extra charge that stayed connected but that was designed by the company and not something off the shelf. These days, it's done with Internet via cable/phone or wireless. A drop in comms == "Trouble" which is treated as an alarm condition.
          Another precaution was a code to repeat in case of alarm. Said code said one style, everything is OK. Said in another style it ment the subscriber was being held hostage. Much fun calling for a SWAT response and very, very expensive when the subscriber got it wrong.

      • by TimothyHollins ( 4720957 ) on Monday December 08, 2025 @06:35AM (#65842869)

        I suspect Porsche was trying to stop thieves who would disconnect the satellite link in order to keep the car from receiving a kill-switch signal.

        Disable the car when it loses the satellite link, and that plan is foiled. That'll teach 'em! Oh wait...

        If they wanted to stop thieves they wouldn't be doing business in Russia at all.

      • Well, they did stop all the thieves there.

    • With your solution, all a thief must do is unplug the receiver, or wrap it in tin foil, and theyâ(TM)re home free.

    • Actually that's the proper way to design these, of course with some kind of backup way in (usually via a PIN). Only emergency exits and similar should "fall open" in case of outages and even there of course great care should be taken so this can't be easily exploited.

    • Horrible business plan.

      Great business plan. The high end car industry is full of customer led requests to improve theft protection. Sending a disable command to a car after it has been cut off from communication is about as effective as using Find My Phone to detect a phone in a faraday cage, which is to say fuck-all. It was customers that were driving these kinds of feature requests.

      And for all those hundreds of ways that it could go bad, it's been over a decade and this is the first such example. As a customer for me that would

    • by Targon ( 17348 )

      Put your car in a garage for a year because you will be traveling, and then having that brick the car really isn't good. But I don't feel bad when bad things happen in Russia these days, in the same way I wish that Trump and his administration would lose access to everything, along with ICE, then the government in Israel. This list goes on.

    • by Mozai ( 3547 )

      It gets worse: "The Russian Porsche Macan Club said some drivers had restored function by disabling or rebooting the VTS, while others reported success after disconnecting their car batteries for up to 10 hours, according to the Telegram channel Mash." So it's a theft-deterrent, not theft-prevention.

    • No one at Porsche thought to test this out in a mountain canyon? Or does no one take their Porsche into the mountains on a multiday camping trip?

    • by eth1 ( 94901 )

      I can see a service where you can send a satellite message to disable your car/brick it. But a system where if you lose satellite communication for enough time it bricks itself automatically?

      I can see a hundred ways this can go bad - starting with what actually happened.

      Horrible business plan.

      No, it's a great business plan. Add a feature that means the car is undrivable if the customer disables or blocks your location-tracking-for-sale device. Bonus! Make it an additional option they PAID for!

    • Actually, I like it. There just needs to be a local override that only the owner would know... say, a passphrase or some other code along with a key. That way, external events can not disrupt the normal operation of the vehicle. Yes, there is now the risk of getting kidnapped or otherwise violated to get that information out of you, but, no anti-theft system can be perfectly reliable while allowing reliable operation of the vehicle.

      • This is what I think all PATS systems should have. Some mechanism where the entire thing can be disabled completely, or reset.

        It would be interesting to open source this, but having a balance of security and open source is difficult, but doable. The key (heh) is placing the PATS module somewhere on a vehicle that is a PITA to get to, like between the gas tank and the bed of a pickup truck, for example. From there, having a user selectable set of protectors. It could be something as simple as a switch, i

  • by spazmonkey ( 920425 ) on Monday December 08, 2025 @01:00AM (#65842599)

    I wonder how many of those Porches (and Mercedes and others) were stolen from Ukrainian dealerships in the first place.
      Personally knowing medics in Ukraine that have to use modified secondhand family vans because the Russians looted all the ambulances and cleaned out the car dealerships, I have to say "So what?"
    Brick them all.
       

    • by roman_mir ( 125474 ) on Monday December 08, 2025 @03:07AM (#65842689) Homepage Journal

      Also busses, tractors and combines and all sorts of farm equipment, everything that could be looted from businesses and homes was looted. Hundreds of thousands of children were kidnapped.

      ruzzia is a scourge, always was always will be, unfit to exist on this planet.

      Every time I say it here, I am moded down as a troll, doesn't change the reality.

      • Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)

        by b0s0z0ku ( 752509 )
        Russia in its current form is a scourge, but if this tech spreads, it will be abused by other authoritarian governments (including the US) to track and harass dissidents. Better that NO ONE has this kind of power over people's property.
        • IF this tech spreads? What makes you think it hasn't already?

        • Precisely! While a lot of Russians may be opposed to this war themselves, they've got to wonder whether their property will be subject to seizure whenever Western entities - be it governments, companies, NGOs,... - have a beef w/ them. Right now, it's Ukraine, but what if the West doesn't like Russian policies against LGBTQ+ or any other pet cause of the West?

          That's why, in the long term, once the war ends and everything dies down, chances are that Russia will be lost to Western business forever. They

      • Don't forget the Ukrainian women who were given to Russian crime orgs and Wagner to be forced into prostitution in places like Africa.
    • Yes, fuck Russia, but this can equally well be used in authoritarian countries (Russia, US, China, etc) to track or disable the vehicles of dissidents or keep protesters from following ICE vermin.
      • this can equally well be used in authoritarian countries (Russia, US, China, etc) to track or disable the vehicles of dissidents or keep protesters from following ICE vermin.

        The OnStar system in my previous vehicle still reported to OnStar (or someone) even though it did not HAVE OnStar installed or activated. I was out west where the nearest cell tower was over 60 miles away and was using an SDR and traced it to the trunk on the drivers side. I was looking for some SCADA signals in the 800-950 Mhz range and said "What the actual hell is THAT!?" when I saw it was always near, and always fairly strong. I assume it was beaconing for a cell tower since it was a repeated signlal wi

        • Did you snip the antenna cable after that?
          • No. I got rid of the car about a year later. It didn't bother me because at the time, I thought it was just a snitch, like the any other cell phone. Didn't occur to me they could shut off my car but I feel stupid I didn't think of that. Too trusting.

      • US auto companies use cell phone system for vehicle tracking and geo-fencing on high-risk loans

        Since cell coverage is nearly universal in US, it works just fine

        • It's not even close to universal in rural parts of the US ... also, tracking without consent is bad regardless of what means are used.
    • by Kokuyo ( 549451 )

      While you're probably not wrong I also hold steadfastly to my conviction to never buy VW group. Or BMW. Or MErcedes for that matter.

      I had a JAC drive in front of me two days ago. Didn't know the brand. Googled it. On the website, they reiterated three or four times that 75% were owned by VW... I found it cute how they think that's something they can brag with.

      To be fair though... there aren't any good car brands coming to mind. When others notice the trend back to physical buttons, Mazda, the last holdout,

      • Another issue is how components are expensive. For example, a co-worker had a relay replaced. A normal relay is about $10-$20. Because this was part of a SBC... it cost hundreds. Just getting something like the steering wheel position sensor on my vehicle ran a small fortune. If these are wear items, they should be treated as such and have the part that wears out easily accessible and replaceable.

        Then there is the looming specter that cars can't be maintained. Once the car maker stops making boards fo

    • They were probably evacuated before the women and children.
    • by mjwx ( 966435 )

      I wonder how many of those Porches (and Mercedes and others) were stolen from Ukrainian dealerships in the first place.
      Personally knowing medics in Ukraine that have to use modified secondhand family vans because the Russians looted all the ambulances and cleaned out the car dealerships, I have to say "So what?"
      Brick them all.

      Probably stolen from the UK or Western Europe. Maybe even as far away as the US.

      A lot of the UK's stolen cars end up in Eastern Europe, some even keep the UK number plates for that authentic feel.

  • can it do stuff like cutting fuel delivery at speed while on the road?

  • by innocent_white_lamb ( 151825 ) on Monday December 08, 2025 @02:22AM (#65842659)

    Well....

    shucky darn.

    John Deere remotely disabled a bunch of tractors that Russians stole from Ukraine in 2022.

    Now Porsche can do the same thing to all of their vehicles in Russia.

    • Of course, but if this tech becomes widespread, it will be used to disable the vehicles of dissidents (including those tracking ICE) in authoritarian countries (yes, that includes the US). This is an example of bad tech harming bad people, but the same tech can easily be weaponized against good people on the wrong side of evil laws.
      • Did you not know that already exists?

        Now, I agree that this is the sort of thing we need to restrict government access to, lest we fall to authoritarianism. But, if you're saying that the US already has, in the context of a story related to Russia no less, then you really don't know what you're talking about. That you specifically called out interfering with key law enforcement activities, for which I voted and actively support, makes me suspect the latter.

        • Well, if you support "lawn forcement" checking stopping people and checking their papers on the street at random, then you have no respect for the Bill of Rights, and are generally an un-American piece of shit. Shame on you. Nothing worse than a bootlicking cuck.

          Yeah, interfering with Fascist "lawn forcement" is sometimes a good thing. Remember, catching fugitive slaves, enforcing segregation laws, and internment of Japanese people were all once legal. Laws written by a bunch of old impotent men, enforc

          • Did I say "lawn enforcement"? Oh, no, I didn't. You got my hopes up and then dashed them.

            I don't care how much you want cheap labor that you can exploit and crush, but I think that's a bad thing that hurts American workers and the migrants. I don't care how much you want to inflate the representation and electoral power of blue States with people who can't vote, it's still wrong. I don't care how much your heart bleeds for people who spat in our collective faces and wiped their asses on our laws, but

            • Fuck the majority and fuck you. If this were the old Slashdot, most people here would have been LIVID at the thought of ICE pigs stopping people on the streets at random, asking for their "papers please", and often arresting them or being violent EVEN IF THEY SHOWED PROOF OF US CITIZENSHIP. When did Slashdot become the home of bootlicking bitter old codgers instead of libertarian in bent?

              As far as "dumbocrapsee", the rule of the voting rabble (deplorable trash) shouldn't be paramount or unlimited. That's

              • And, I will add, fair is fair. If blue states supposedly inflate their representation, red states deliberately cut their voting rolls ... got caught growing weed in 1985 at age 18? No vote for you since you have a felony drug conviction, and the process to restore your franchise is deliberately tortuous and expensive.
                • Oh, where did you find the data showing that Red States had more drug convictions than Blue States? And during what timeframe? I was 18 in the mid 90's, when Biden's crime bill was in effect (and Georgia was a Blue State). I also lived in New York, which had some of the most severe penalties for weed - the "Rockafeller drug laws". NY threw a whole lot of folks into prison for simple possession, I think mostly blacks and Puerto Ricans.
                  • I agree that Rockefeller should fry in Hades and that his name should be erased.

                    This being said:
                    (1) The penalty for possession of small amounts of weed was liberalized to a $100 fine in the late 1970s, likely when you were a toddler.

                    (2) Under Bloomberg, the NYPD was in the habit of arresting people for possession of small amounts citing "public display", which was a misdemeanor, so didn't affect voting rights.

                    Pig: turn out your pockets
                    Joint falls on ground.
                    Pig: Oink! Oink! It's on public display now.

                    Most

              • Wait, are you suggesting that law enforcement agents are arresting people who get violent with them, even if they didn't commit a crime OTHER than getting violent with law enforcement? Well, I'm actually okay with that.

                I'm also okay with our immigration laws and the enforcement thereof. I don't see any sincere justification for the current resistance. I do see plenty of lies being thrown around, and very disingenuous arguments against.

                Basically, someone got you all whipped up into a frenzy so you w

                • I'm fine with less assimilation ... hearing different languages, seeing different cultures makes my city (NYC) worth living in. You mean the WHINING of everyday citizens, right? Oh, ohhhhhh, there's food other than meat, potatoes, and burgers. Boooohoooboooohoooboooohoooo!

                  I'm OK with reasonable enforcement of immigration laws, not with stopping people not engaging in overt criminal conduct on the street and asking for papers like it was the USSR in 1985. (And sometimes, still harassing them AFTER they'v

                  • Why do you insist on telling me that you are unable to restrain your emotions? It's like you want me to know I shouldn't listen to you. The problem there is that I end up worrying about your mental health instead of just not listening.

                    You sound like you're really stressed out. Cities are bad for mental health. The pollution, noise, and the perverse estrangement of crowds isn't good for you. NYC is not worth living in. It's worth visiting on occasion, but it is not worth the cost or stress of being

                    • I'm not interested in your advice, your gaslighting, or your worries. Injustice makes me emotional. This is a good and healthy thing. Unfortunately, I can't block people on here, but please don't ever respond to me again. End of conversation.
  • by PhantomHarlock ( 189617 ) on Monday December 08, 2025 @03:03AM (#65842685)

    I'll keep driving my car that A. doesn't have any of that stuff and B. is to old for anyone to want to steal /25 year old truck with a bulletproof engine /10 year old car with same

    • I have bad news for you. Here in Georgia, the most stolen vehicles are 2006 Ford pickups. 2007 Accords are #4. Newest cars on the list were built in 2020.

      Point being, don't assume that being 10-25 years old means nobody wants to steal it. If anything, it looks like, "doesn't have any of that stuff", does make it far more likely your car will be stolen.

  • "All of Russia's Porsches were bricked by a standard software feature."
    I wonder if the development and service costs for this feature are included in the price? -Just another reason not to buy a Porsche.
    Come to think about it, how many honest hard working people in Russia can actually afford a Porsche? -That one guy is who I feel sorry for.
  • Another brick in the wall.

  • by Ecuador ( 740021 ) on Monday December 08, 2025 @08:25AM (#65843001) Homepage

    It sounds like there is more to this. Satellites don't respect political boundaries. Also, a simple "loss of signal" happens when you park your Porche in a garage - it doesn't even have to be a multi-storey underground one, I bet the satellite signal is blocked easier than that. And yet we've never heard of any issue with this outside Russia, so there's more to the story than Porche being stupid thinking that they should disable cars who lose satellite connection.

  • by nospam007 ( 722110 ) * on Monday December 08, 2025 @08:49AM (#65843021)

    Russia scrambling satellites to avoid getting hit by Ukrainian drones and missiles?

    • by R80_JR ( 1094843 )
      Russian jamming to counter Ukrainian drones and missiles, with the side effect of causing unintended consequences..... The same thing happens in the US when 5G signals in C-band interfere with legitimate users of the NWS NOAAPORT satellite system.....
  • ... complete retard in that way.

    Disclaimer: German here.

    German carmakers today are precisely at where US car-makers where in the mid to late 60ies: aloof, disconnected and arrogant, relying to much on brand-recognition to pull off non-sense like planned obsolescence or subscriptions for your heated seats.

  • by laughingskeptic ( 1004414 ) on Monday December 08, 2025 @10:15AM (#65843159)
    A lot of parking in Europe is underground and out of reach of satellites and many Porches are not driven daily ... and yet we have not heard of this issue before now.
    • Are they actually out of reach? Maybe it just listens for GPS and doesn't need a strong signal. Or, maybe most garages have repeaters.
  • Another thing that doesn't work unless it gets a periodic OK from the cloud overlords.

    If I've got the key/fob in my hand and can manipulate that and controls on/in the car at the same time, I ought to be able to drive it. What if I need to get help in an emergency, or flee some disaster, and this piece of shit is the only thing in my garage? If I survive, can I sue?

  • Imagine the hilarity when tow trucks incorporate similar anti-theft systems...

  • If this happens only out of Russia, then it's very likely that their government used signal jammers to block satellite signals.... Yep, they have a lot of reasons to block those signals from satellites that they don't own to make sure no surveillance can be done on them.
  • ...Trabant cars disabled themselves without satellite!
  • When the VTS connection drops, the anti-theft protocol kicks in, cutting fuel delivery and locking down the engine completely.

    So Porsches can't drive through tunnels, into underground garages, deep valleys, or through sky scraper canyons?

    This explanation doesn't make sense.

  • ...I stick to my before-2013 Porsche
  • Someone found the OEM "secret code" to brick them. You know, like the ones John Deere used to brick the Ukrainian tractors that were pillaged by the Russians?

  • Owning or using Western cars discredits the Russian industry, therefore the Kremlin, so it should be illegal. They just need to hop into their Ladas even if the original ones were Italian Fiat models licensed to the USSR. It's a three-day special industrial operation.

  • Imagine buying a car that won't start unless it can connect to space. I don't care how fancy it is, that's a shit plan. Modern cars are way to connected to everything. What was wrong with 4 wheels and an engine?

"Unibus timeout fatal trap program lost sorry" - An error message printed by DEC's RSTS operating system for the PDP-11

Working...