AutoAuth certification program expanded to technicians and tools

OmniTrust has expanded its AutoAuth program to provide security verification options for individual technicians and tools. 

“We are all about trust throughout the transportation ecosystem from the vehicle to the aftermarket to everywhere in between,” David Sequino, AutoAuth president and CEO, told Repairer Driven News. 

Sequino said that AutoAuth has built a registration authority that authenticates tools to enter the gateway behind the OEM’s OBD-II port and allows them to read out error codes. 

Many of the tools can create keys and be used to steal vehicles, Sequino said. 

He said someone with a flatbed can remove a vehicle from a driveway and drive it to a “shady” garage shop, where a scan tool is used to pull PINs from a dealership. He added that the PINs could then be used to create new key fobs for the vehicle. 

“It’s happening everywhere,” Sequino said. 

Last month, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced six individuals were charged in connection with their roles in the alleged theft of 20 vehicles. She said they used an Autel diagnostic device to create key fobs. 

Austin, Texas, police also recently warned of diagnostic tools being used to steal vehicles, according to local news station KXAN.  

AutoAuth has already been combating this type of theft through a shop-level authorization program. He said about 210,000 shops are registered. 

The company is now expanding that with a Certified Tool Program and Certified Technician Program. 

He said the technician program is for techs who might work at a shop, but they can get their own certification.

Sequino said that when a technician uses a tool to create a new key, they have to show their ID and can use voice or facial recognition. The driver’s ID and registration are also verified. 

“Once all that is happening, we know we’ve got a driver that owns the vehicle, and we know we’ve got a technician at the same location,” Sequino said. “Then we allow the locksmith to do their job.” 

Currently,  vehicles made by about 25 OEM brands are secured through AutoAuth, he said.

The tool program guarantees that a genuine tool from a genuine manufacturer is operating in the appropriate market, Sequino said. 

He said the tool vendor market is highly competitive, with a lot of revenue theft. 

AutoAuth can provide a digital certificate or an identity to their tool and tie it to a location,” Sequino said. 

“So if XYZ sells a tool into the North American market, that tool gets to work here,” he said. “But if another division of the same company takes a tool that was built for Brazil, they can’t run that tool in North America.” 

The tool service is provided free of charge to Equipment Tool Institute (ETI) members in good standing with the institute.

Sequino said AutoAuth doesn’t share data back to OEMs about the shops unless there is cause. For example, if 100 vehicles were stolen, he said. 

“We sit in the middle of the car manufacturers, making sure their vehicles are secure, the aftermarket tool vendors, and then the shops,” he said.

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