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Tesla paid people over $100K to hack their cars in a Vancouver competition

The winner also took home the car.
tesla-hackathon
Tesla challenges programmers to exploit vulnerabilities in the car's system as part of a Vancouver hackathon.

Each year, Tesla offers a lucky computer whiz the opportunity to win big money and their very own new car at a Vancouver hackathon.

The automotive company takes part in the annual Pwn2Own hacking competition and challenges security researchers to find weaknesses in the latest model of Tesla's system and exploit them for cash.

In previous years, hackers used vulnerabilities in the tuner, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and modem to access the infotainment system, security centre, and even Tesla’s self-driving autopilot capabilities, thus taking complete control of the vehicle.

The ultimate test is if the hack remains in place after a reboot.

This year, the top scorer, handle Synacktiv, took home over $100,000 and a Tesla Model 3 after successfully executing an attack against the Tesla Gateway.

The competition was ongoing from March 22 to 24 and other hackers also took aim at big names such as Apple and Microsoft Windows.