Tesla Secures Title Sponsorship for Trend Micro Auto Vulnerability Event

Inaugural Pwn2Own Automotive to take place in Tokyo in January 2024

AUCKLAND, September 5, 2023 – Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global cybersecurity leader, is delighted to announce one of the world's leading carmakers as its key sponsor for the first-ever Pwn2Own Automotive event where participants will compete for a total of one million in cash prizes and cars.

Pwn2Own Automotive is set to be held January 24th – 26th, 2024, at the Automotive World conference in Tokyo. To find out more, please visit: https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/blog/2023/8/28/revealing-the-targets-and-rules-for-the-first-pwn2own-automotive

Mick McCluney, Technical Director at Trend Micro ANZ: "Pwn2Own is a key pillar in Trend's Zero Day Initiative (ZDI), which has been helping us discover new vulnerabilities in consumer, industrial, and emerging technology for years. We're delighted to welcome Tesla as title sponsor as we redouble our efforts to expand our influence in the field of automotive cybersecurity."

Pwn2Own Automotive, co-hosted by ZDI and VicOne, a subsidiary of Trend Micro specialising in automotive security, is the first contest of its kind to focus exclusively on connected cars. The collaboration of VicOne's deep-rooted understanding of security in the vehicle ecosystem, combined with ZDI's platform to address these challenges head-on, is a synergy between auto cybersecurity and threat hunting.

The goals are to encourage more security research into this ecosystem, incentivise vendors to participate in the community, and raise awareness of modern vehicles' multiple, complex sub-components.

Tesla has worked with Trend Micro and Pwn2Own before, where the carmaker's knowledge of the complexities of electric vehicles (EVs) helped to make Pwn2Own Vancouver a great success.

In addition, ChargePoint will be another partner of this new category of Pwn2Own, providing technical guidance as well as hardware support for the contest.

Last year, ZDI was responsible for the discovery and publication of 1,706 new vulnerabilities. Over 1,000 unique zero-day vulnerabilities were reported through the ZDI to date in 2023. Among them was a new flaw in MOVEit, which Trend worked with vendors to rapidly remediate and disclose responsibly.

Trend customers benefit from 70+ days of advanced protection, made possible by the valuable data and insights gathered through the ZDI. This advanced intelligence allows Trend to stay one step ahead of potential threats.

For January's event, there's more than one million dollars available in cash and prizes, including Tesla cars. There will be four categories:

• Tesla: First introduced in Pwn2Own Vancouver 2019, this category will enable contestants to compete to win cash prizes of up to $200,000 and their own vehicle. Contestants can register an entry against either a Tesla Model 3/Y (Ryzen-based) or Tesla Model S/X (Ryzen-based) equivalent benchtop unit
• In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI): These systems connect with our phones and provide Navigation, in-car internet, and Wi-Fi, as well as connectivity to other vehicle systems through the CAN bus, making them a popular target for hackers. There will be three IVI devices to target
• Electric Vehicle Chargers: EV chargers historically haven't received much attention from the hacking community. Yet attack surfaces such as mobile apps, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connections, and the OCPP protocol could all allow threat actors to cause harm to an EV. There will be six EV charger models to target in the competition
• Operating Systems: Participants will race to exploit vulnerabilities in Automotive Grade Linux, Blackberry QNX, and Android Automotive OS.

Pwn2Own is a key part of Trend's ZDI, which has paid out over $30 million since 2007—incentivising researchers to find vulnerabilities in a range of technology products.

 

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro, a global cybersecurity leader, helps make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Fuelled by decades of security expertise, global threat research, and continuous innovation, Trend Micro's cybersecurity platform protects hundreds of thousands of organisations and millions of individuals across clouds, networks, devices, and endpoints. As a leader in cloud and enterprise cybersecurity, the platform delivers a powerful range of advanced threat defence techniques optimised for environments like AWS, Microsoft, and Google, and central visibility for better, faster detection and response. With 7,000 employees across 65 countries, Trend Micro enables organisations to simplify and secure their connected world. http://www.trendmicro.com.nz/