Skip to footer

Want $10,000? Hack a Tesla Motors Model S electric car.

Can you hack a Tesla Model S? Organizers at the SyScan computer security conference in Beijing will give someone $10,000 if they can hack into Tesla Motors' Model S electric car. 

|
Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters/File
A man looks at Tesla Motors' Model S P85 at its showroom in Beijing in January 2014. Organizers at the SyScan computer security conference in Beijing will give someone $10,000 if they can hack into Tesla Motors' Model S electric car.

The word 'hack' is a little over-used in today's lexicon, but in the general sense it refers to the process of cracking the software system of a computer, a smartphone – or a car.

Many electric cars roll those three categories into one, and now the organizers of a computer security conference have set hackers a special challenge: To hack into a Tesla Model S electric car for a $10,000 prize.

Anyone who registers for the SyScan conference taking place in Beijing from 16-17 July is eligible to enter the competition, reports Forbes, and while the competition's rules haven't been revealed there will be a Model S on display for hacking experts to try their luck.

Tesla itself isn't involved in the competition in any official capacity, nor does it support the competition--but the company could learn lessons from anyone who does manage to crack its software.

Hacking could take many forms in the entirely-electric Tesla, from bringing up websites on its central display screen to operating major functions of the car from a remote computer.

Some enterprising individuals have already accomplished the former in the past, managing to run a web browser on the car's 17-inch screen.

In that instance, back in April, Tesla actually contacted the individual responsible warning that the car's warranty would be void should any changes be made.

Given the Model S's high-tech nature, it's no surprise that Tesla already takes security very seriously.

It has a full vulnerability disclosure program, allowing users to report any flaws in the car's system, and employed ex-Apple security expert Kristin Paget to improve the car's digital security.

Previous research has shown that even regular cars can be hacked, with individuals able to take control of cars from afar, hitting the brakes and jerking the steering wheel.

It's all fun and games when exploited experimentally, but the subtext is very sinister: As cars get more advanced, the likelihood of hacking and viruses increases.

A $10,000 prize might make hacking a Tesla a worthwhile pursuit for experts visiting the SyScan conference--but lessons learned could make electric cars a great deal safer in the future.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Want $10,000? Hack a Tesla Motors Model S electric car.
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2014/0710/Want-10-000-Hack-a-Tesla-Motors-Model-S-electric-car
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe