British Court Blocks Report on Antitheft System Hack

English researchers have been ordered not to publish an academic report showing how to hack an algorithm that controls the antitheft system in millions of Volkswagen Group vehicles, the Associated Press reports.

The British High Court issued an interim injunction to block the paper, which had been scheduled for publication next month by scientists at England's University of Birmingham. The university says it will "defer" the paper and is seeking legal advice about whether it could publish the report later.

The researchers found three ways to bypass VW's so-called immobilizer system, which prevents unauthorized ignition keys from starting a vehicle's engine. AP notes that such systems have been required in vehicles sold in the U.K. for the past 15 years.

VW, which sought the injunction, contended that publishing details about how to reverse-engineer the algorithm would lead to more thefts of its Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche and Volkswagen brand vehicles.

The researchers argued that they had alerted the system's chip maker about the problem six months ago. But the High Court said the security of VW vehicles on the road trumps the value of protecting academic free speech.