Podcast Summary: The Underground Trade of Car Hacking Tech

The 404 Media Podcast
Date: August 27, 2025
Featuring: Joseph, Jason Kebler, Sam Cole, Emmanuel Mayberg

Overview

This episode centers on two major investigations by 404 Media:

1. A deep dive into the growing underground market for custom car hacking tech, specifically involving the Flipper Zero device, which is being modified to unlock and potentially steal many modern vehicles.
2. A discussion about the viral phenomenon of 80s nostalgia "AI slop" videos, their origins, who's making them, and what their cultural impact might be.

The conversation moves from breaking down the Flipper Zero story, reactions from both hackers and the manufacturer, broader issues of media trust, and finally a pivot into AI-generated viral content and its social effects.

Segment 1: The Underground Trade in Car Hacking Tech

[04:06 – 26:37]

Introduction to the Story

• Lead reporter Joseph is interviewed by the team about his article: "Inside the Underground Trade of Flipper Zero Tech to Break Into Cars."
• The conversation begins with a description of a video demo: A person uses a small white-and-orange device (the Flipper Zero) to unlock a supposedly secure car.

What is Flipper Zero?

• Jason Kebler [06:10]:
  "So the Flipper Zero is a pretty well known or maybe infamous piece of hacking gear. ... The attraction was that it's basically a Swiss army knife for hackers."
• Launched on Kickstarter, raised ~$5 million.
• Primary uses: Cloning RFID/NFC keycards, WiFi deauthentication, and more. It's popular among penetration testers and security researchers but also pops up in mainstream news tied to hacking incidents.
• Branding: Cutesy, playful, reminiscent of a Tamagotchi, with a dolphin mascot.

Dual-Use and Custom Firmware

• Emmanuel [08:25]: Notes that Flipper Zero’s marketing presents a positive, “white-hat” image.
• Jason [10:13]: Explains the phenomenon of custom firmware and add-on software (patches/scripts) that broadens the device’s capabilities far beyond the original, sometimes into criminal territory. The "Unleashed" firmware is cited as a powerful, widely used custom build.

The New Car Hacking Attack

• Jason [11:14]: Details how hackers are customizing Flipper Zeros with special patches/scripts aimed at specific car models (Kia, Suzuki, etc.), allowing them to bypass rolling code security systems.
• Car theft context:
  • “Relay attacks,” previously used for expensive cars, involved devices to fool the car into thinking the key fob was nearby.
  • Rolling codes were meant to stop replay attacks, but hackers have reverse-engineered these codes, letting the Flipper Zero with custom scripts predict future unlock codes.
• Joseph [14:10]:
  "This is very similar to how tickets work now…" (referring to rolling barcodes to defeat counterfeiting).
  • Hackers have even purchased leaked car source code to aid their engineering.

Weaknesses in Car Security

• Jason [15:48]:
  "If you go through those scripts ... there was no encryption on those."
  • Many non-luxury vehicles leave themselves open to attack because of poor or absent cryptographic protections.
  • A PDF circulating among hackers lists 200+ susceptible car models, from Kia and Suzuki to Ford, Fiat, Skoda, Citroen, Mitsubishi, and Honda.

Pricing and Proliferation

• Jason [17:22]:
  • Tools to unlock cars used to sell for thousands online (if you didn’t get scammed).
  • Flipper Zeros are ~$200, vastly lowering the barrier.
  • The exclusive software patches are sold for $600–1,000 by two hackers ("Daniel" and "Darrow”). However, the tools are starting to leak, potentially allowing wider, cheaper distribution.

The “Kia Boys” Connection

• Jason [17:22]:
  • Relates the phenomenon to the viral “Kia Boys” trend (low-tech car thefts promoted on TikTok).
  • Predicts that tech like the Flipper Zero, as it becomes cheaper and available, could fuel a “Flipper Boys” trend, democratizing car theft with software that may soon go fully public.

Flipper Zero’s Response and Media Accountability

• Jason [20:19]:
  • Flipper Zero initially gave a thoughtful, measured statement, blaming automakers and downplaying the threat.
  • After publication, Flipper Zero published a sarcastic, dismissive blog: "Can Flipper Zero really steal your car? Spoiler: No, it can't."
  • They tweeted mock images and comments, belittling the story and its journalists, confusing legitimate questions with media hype.

Notable Quotes

• Joseph [22:50]:
  "This is a really bad blog post by them. … It’s very damaging because they’re a very popular product...This blog post is very much in the vein of ‘fake news. This has nothing to do with us. This is totally wrong.’ … It’s a really disappointing response."
• Jason [25:44]:
  "To have a response that isn't as good faith kind of just undermines all."

Broader Point About Media Trust

• The response from Flipper Zero is contextualized within a larger trend: Companies, politicians, and organizations reflexively blaming journalists for negative but fact-based reporting, undermining trust in media.

Lighter Nostalgic Moment

• Team reminisces about gadgets like the Casio TV remote watch—an example of “proto-Flipper Zero” playful hacking from the analog era.

Segment 2: 80s Nostalgia and “AI Slop” Viral Videos

[31:07 – 45:43]

What are Nostalgia “AI Slop” Videos?

• Joseph [31:19]:
  • Describes viral AI-generated videos with Stranger Things/Goonies vibes.
  • They depict sunny, sanitized versions of the 1980s (or other decades):

    "Have you heard what's going on in 2025? ... Wouldn't you love to go back to 1985, where we drink Coca Cola and have a nice time out of glass bottles... it's nostalgia porn."

  • The videos usually start with AI teenagers lamenting modernity, fantasizing about a less complicated time.
• Jason [35:29] (quotes article by himself and Matthew Gault):

  “These videos, like a lot of AI Slop, do not try to hide that they are AI-generated and show that there is unfortunately a market for people endlessly scrolling social media ... looking to astral project themselves into a hallucinatory past that never existed. This is Mark Zuckerberg's fucked up metaverse, living here and now on Mark Zuckerberg's AI Slop app.”

Reception and Cultural Impact

• Sam [36:10]:
  • First noticed them as just “engagement bait”; now there are variants for almost every decade (even 2003 and 2020).
  • They gloss over real historical hardships (AIDS crisis, Chernobyl, economic instability) for a feel-good fantasy.
• Joseph/Sam [37:03]:
  • Joking about the rapid recycling of nostalgia, e.g., “Remember yesterday, when things were so simple?”

The Politics of Nostalgia

• Emmanuel (as proxy for Matthew Gault) [38:43]:

  "Part of what is alarming about the virality of these is that they are not clearly right wing coded. But nostalgia is inherently a regressive desire... Make America Great Again is a nostalgic movement and statement. That is always what is kind of toxic about this—looking back and romanticizing the past."

• Jason [39:52]:
  • Draws a line between these AI slop videos and right-wing "Remember what they took from you" meme content—both exploit mass nostalgia but differ in direct political messaging.

Who’s Making AI Slop?

• Joseph [41:15]:
  • It's not boomers being tricked; the audience is largely Gen X/elder millennials.
  • Creators are often digital nomads, e.g., a 20-something living in Bali running an Instagram account with 800,000 followers, making slop to “become a billionaire.”
  • Motivation: Maximizing views/engagement to earn ad revenue through Instagram/TikTok/YouTube’s bonus programs and viral strategies.
  • Example: On creator Discords, “Here's how you make it, here's how you script it. ... Let's make it and let's put it out there. It's just so cynical.”

The “Meta” of AI Slop

• Joseph [43:18]:
  • AI Slop follows trending formulas—the current “meta”—for what the algorithm promotes.
  • Old metas include AI Jesus content, religious content, grotesque horror, Spongebob/Mickey Mouse weirdness, sports stars in surreal situations. What succeeds is rapidly copied and then overtaken by the next trend.
• The flooding of platforms with low-effort AI-generated content dilutes quality and shifts online culture.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jason Kebler [06:10]:
  "It's basically a Swiss army knife for hackers."
• Emmanuel Mayberg [08:25]
  "Can we just spend a second talking about Flipper Zero's own branding and image... it is fairly feel-good, positive.”
• Joseph [22:50]:
  "It's a really bad blog post by them. It's very damaging..."
• Jason [35:29]:
  "These videos ... show that there is unfortunately a market for people endlessly scrolling social media looking to astral project themselves into a hallucinatory past that never existed."
• Sam Cole [37:03]:
  "Remember yesterday when things were so simple?"
• Emmanuel/Matthew [38:43]:
  "Nostalgia is inherently a regressive desire... Make America Great Again is a nostalgic movement."
• Joseph [41:15]:
  "The people making this are... a digital nomad who lives in Bali whose entire thing is, I'm trying to become a billionaire. ... It's just so cynical."

Timestamps of Key Segments

• [04:06] - Start of car hacking segment, intro to Flipper Zero
• [10:13] - Custom firmware and patches
• [11:14] - Specifics of the car hacking technique
• [15:24] - Weaknesses in rolling code security
• [17:22] - The "Kia Boys" and democratization of car theft
• [20:19] - Flipper Zero’s defensive response
• [22:50] - Discussion of media trust and corporate PR
• [26:14] - Gadget nostalgia (Casio TV remote watches)
• [31:07] - AI Slop “nostalgia porn” discussion begins
• [35:29] - Quote from AI slop article, defining the trend
• [38:43] - Subtext and danger of nostalgia in politics
• [41:15] - Who creates viral AI slop content and why

Tone & Style

The tone is lively, irreverent, deeply knowledgeable, and laced with humor—typical of 404 Media’s approach. The hosts blend detailed, investigative breakdowns with pop culture asides, technological nostalgia, and broader cultural critique.

Takeaways

Car hacking is entering a new, more accessible era.

• Affordable, hackable hardware like Flipper Zero, when equipped with custom firmware, can defeat the security of dozens of car models.
• As the underground trade shifts from expensive, exclusive gadgets to cheap, customizable ones, worries mount about widespread car theft.

AI-generated nostalgia is a window into algorithmic cynicism and cultural regression.

• Viral “AI Slop” videos exploit longing for a mythic past, generated not by true believers but profit-hungry algorithm gamers.
• Even seemingly apolitical trends have regressive undertones, raising questions about how digital culture shapes collective memory.

Media trust and tech accountability are at stake.

• The Flipper Zero controversy highlights a recurring problem: when tech companies face negative coverage, many default to damage-control PR that delegitimizes journalism, eroding public trust.

For more information, full stories, and member-only bonus segments, visit 404media.co.