Is this the cutting edge of cyber exploits?

Bring together a group of hackers to find and exploit vulnerabilities before the bad guys can, and reward the best ones with cash or prizes: that’s the idea behind Pwn2Own. The competition is now in its 17^th year and has recently expanded its cyber security focus from consumer products like laptops and mobile phones to include connected vehicles. Since 2019, Tesla has been offering its models as a target for cyber security exploits.

“Before the competition we worked with Tesla to figure out how best to address car security from a Pwn2Own perspective,” says Dustin Childs, Head of Threat Awareness, Zero Day Initiative at cyber security company Trend Micro, the host of Pwn2Own. “How do we write the rules to make it fair and safe? How do we make it relevant? We don’t want to do stunt hacking, something that just looks cool but doesn’t have any practical purpose. It took quite a while to get everything straightened out.”