Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will offer rewards of as much as $1500 to ethical hackers who tell the auto maker about data security weaknesses in its vehicles. The announcement comes a year after the car maker had a Jeep hacked remotely.
In July 2015, cybersecurity researchers used a wireless connection to turn off a Jeep Cherokee’s engine. The hack, reported in Wired Magazine, alarmed auto makers and regulators, and it led FCA to recall 1.4 million vehicles to prevent the use of a wireless connection to gain control of the vehicle.
Read more about the Wired hacking by clicking HERE.
FCA officials says Bugcrowd of San Francisco, which manages similar programmes for a range of companies, including Tesla Motors, will manage its “bug bounty” programme.
Casey Ellis, Bugcrowd’s chief executive, said in a media briefing that his company has 32,000 researchers that work through its service. “Bugcrowd rates researchers based on the quality of their work,” he added.
Auto makers have stepped up efforts to address concerns that vehicles equipped with high-speed internet connections could be vulnerable to cyber intruders and criminals who could seek to harvest personal data through vehicle systems, or perpetrate other mischief such as disabling a car and demanding a ransom to bring it back to life.
In July 2015, several major auto makers formed an Automotive Information Sharing and Analysis Centre, or Auto-ISAC, to serve as a clearing house for information about cyber threats. The group said in a statement this week its members now account for 99% cent of light-duty vehicles on the road in North America.
Titus Melnyk, FCA senior manager for security architecture, says FCA could share information generated by the Bugcrowd programme with other automakers through the Auto-ISAC.
“We’ll err on the side of what’s right for the industry,” he says.
General Motors has a programme managed by San Francisco cybersecurity company Hackerone that offers recognition, but not cash, to researchers who identify and share cybersecurity gaps with the company.
The company has also begun hiring outside cybersecurity experts and has a group of employees that test the company’s systems.
Massimilla says GM may offer cash bounties to ethical hackers, but told Reuters, “If you put up a small bounty you aren’t going to get good research”.
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