An academic paper containing details of the secret codes used to start luxury cars will have its publication deferred, the University of Birmingham has confirmed.
The paper has been banned from publication by an interim High Court injunction because of fears it could lead to millions of vehicles being stolen.
The Dismantling Megamos Crypto paper reportedly features details of an algorithm that allows cars to verify the identity of an ignition key.
The Megamos Crypto algorithm is used to work out the codes that are sent between the key and the car, and the report was due to be published at a security symposium in Washington DC next month.
However, an interim High Court injunction has been issued, preventing the report from being published, at the behest of the Volkswagen Group.
The company owns the Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini brands and said the report could allow a "sophisticated criminal gang" to steal cars by overriding the security system.
It also claimed the system was used by many other car manufacturers and could result in them falling victim to car thieves.
The motor manufacturer had asked the authors including University of Birmingham computer science lecturer Flavio Garcia - to publish a partially redacted version of the report without the codes, but they declined.
The report's authors defended their decision by claiming the public have a right to know about weaknesses in the security systems they rely on.
In a statement to the Guardian newspaper, The University of Birmingham said it was disappointed with the High Court judgement, because it goes against the defence of academic freedom in the face of public interest.
"[The University] has decided to defer publicaiton of the academic paper in any form while additional technical and legal advice is obtained given the continuing litigation," the statement reads.
The judgement was handed out several weeks ago, but has gained publicity because of the debate it has sparked among car manufacturers about their security responsibilities.
High Court judge Justice Birss sided with Volkswagen, despite acknowledging the scientists' right to publish, because the contents of the report would mean "car crime will be facilitated."
*This article was originally published on 29 July, but was updated to reflect input from the University of Birmingham on 30 July.*
