This article originally appeared at IndieGarage.ca (March 21, 2024), published by CHAT Integrated Media Inc. for Canada’s independent automotive aftermarket service community. It is reprinted here with permission.
A new protocol for ensuring only qualified and credentialed automotive service professionals can access vehicle security systems through an aftermarket scan tool is set to launch.
The National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF), which plays a key role in ensuring access to OE service information, has announced that its aftermarket scan tool verification program is set to launch within 45-60 days, says the organization.
Once in place, Vehicle Security Professionals (VSPs) in the U.S. and Canada will need a NASTF VSP ID to use an aftermarket scan tool to perform security functions, including:
- Add a key
- All keys lost
- Immobilizer functions
- Any other process that the OE determines to be security-related.
A key reason for introducing the aftermarket scan tool verification program is to combat scan tool theft. There have been reported cases of shops and mobile repairers being robbed at gunpoint by criminals looking to use stolen scan tools to steal vehicles.
A webinar for the Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA) in May 2023 by Chris Chesney, VP of Training and Organizational Development at Repairify (and a NASTF board member), talked about how criminal behavior puts professionals at risk.
“Vehicle theft today is at an all-time high. It’s higher than at any time in the last 14 years. And the result, or the cause, is due to all the safety and emissions systems that we put on board the vehicle. We’ve created this really complex machine.
“In fact, the most common automobile off the showroom floor today is the most complex machine on the planet. It has more processing power than Elon Musk’s rockets. It has more processing power than the most sophisticated aircraft on the planet, the F-35. Because of the diverse number of suppliers, you have to stitch all their systems together. The software on board requires 150 to 300 million lines of code to operate. And then, within the next five to 10 years, Volkswagen predicts we’ll have a billion lines of code on level three vehicles.
And we’re asking you to work on those vehicles. So, because of those safety systems, we’ve created this complex machine that only the “smart” IT people or hackers can activate, influence, or repair. And because of that, hackers are out there making their way into these automobiles at a rapid rate.
Service technicians who own or have access to scan tools are becoming targets for crime. Chris comments that “… we are seeing vehicle security professionals (becoming victims). These are bonded people who are licensed to do locksmith work or security work on vehicles. You may have LSID holders in your business. VSP professionals are being hijacked, shot at, their vehicles being stolen so that the thieves can get access to the scan tool technology to be able to cut new keys, program key fobs, and steal vehicles.”
The voluntary scan tool verification program, which OEM tool suppliers are said to have signed onto as well as aftermarket tool manufacturers, is designed to combat theft due to the multi-factor authentication requirement.
Service professionals will be responsible for verifying the identity of the vehicle owner but will not be required to fill out a D1 form, also known as an Authorization for Automotive Key Generation and/or Immobilizer System / Anti-Theft Services form.
The tool and NASTF will take care of this process behind the scenes. Toolmakers can offer both online and offline functionality.
NASTF recommends that service professionals who do not have a VSP ID should apply as soon as possible to avoid any potential interruption of the business.
