January 24, 2024 at 11:18AM
The Pwn2Own Automotive hacking contest saw participants earn over $700,000 by hacking a Tesla, electric vehicle chargers, and infotainment systems. Rewards ranged from $16,000 to $195,000 for various exploits. The event organized by Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative will continue with more hacking attempts targeting chargers, infotainment systems, and a Tesla’s infotainment system.
It looks like the Pwn2Own Automotive hacking contest at the Automotive World conference in Tokyo, Japan had an eventful first day. Participants earned a total of $722,500 for exploiting vulnerabilities in various automotive systems. Some notable takeaways include:
– The Synacktiv team earned $100,000 for hacking the Tesla modem and an additional $195,000 for targeting other electric vehicle chargers.
– Sina Kheirkhah and RET2 Systems earned $60,000 each for separate charger exploits.
– NCC Group team earned $30,000 for a charger exploit.
– Rob Blakely from Cromulence earned $47,500 for an Automotive Grade Linux exploit.
– Various exploits in the infotainment system category earned participants different amounts, with the highest being $40,000 each.
– Some ChargePoint exploits with known flaws earned participants $16,000 each.
– The remaining days of the contest will focus on chargers, infotainment systems, and another attempt to target a Tesla infotainment system with a sandbox escape exploit.
This is the first edition of the automotive-focused Pwn2Own, and it has already generated significant attention and rewards for successful exploits.