GM Hires Hackers, Researchers to Find Bugs in Car Computers

Aug. 13, 2018
In the upcoming weeks, General Motors will bring researchers, some of whom are professional computer hackers, to Detroit to offer them a bounty or cash payment for each “bug” they uncover in any GM vehicle's computer systems.

August 13, 2018—Highly computerized cars could mean consumers’ data is vulnerable or the driver safety might be endangered if car companies aren’t prepared to cut off any data breach or threat to cybersecurity at the pass, reported Providence Journal.

In the upcoming weeks, GM will bring researchers, some of whom are professional computer hackers, to Detroit to offer them a bounty or cash payment for each “bug” they uncover in any of GM vehicles’ computer systems, according to the report.

The program, called Bug Bounty, will include about 10 researchers GM has hand-picked.

“They are white-hat researchers who we’ve established relationships with through our coordinated disclosure program,” Jeff Massimila, GM’s vice president of Global CyberSecurity, told reporters at the summit, according to Providence Journal.

“White hat” is Internet slang for an ethical computer hacker or computer security expert who specializes in penetration testing or other testing methods to help protect an organization’s information systems.

The bug bounty program will start before the end of summer. 

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