Uber Hires Jeep Hackers To Fortify Its Autonomous Vehicle Program
Last month, we reported on something rather concerning: vehicles with Internet connectivity can be broken into, and in same cases, controlled. It didn't take long before we found out that the story wasn't fake - a testament to the fact that vehicle makers are not taking security seriously enough.
Would the hackers, Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, be targeted in a lawsuit for bringing such vulnerabilities to light? Nope - it's instead landed them a job. Companies sure are getting creative with how they hire, aren't they?
The company to snatch these blokes up first is Uber, a company that is really banking big on an autonomous future. If its service is going to be picking people up with no real driver manning the steering wheel, there's no ifs, ands, or buts about it - it has to be as secure as possible.
Looking forward to starting Tuesday with the great team at @Uber Advanced Technology Center. Should be a cool challenge and a lot of fun.
— Charlie Miller (@0xcharlie) August 28, 2015This hiring by Uber is a continuation if its mass hiring of great engineers. Recently, it's managed to pluck Joe Sullivan from Facebook to become its Chief Security Officer, and it's even managed to lure some over from Google. It's clear that the company - which is almost hard to even consider a start-up anymore with its $50 billion valuation - will spend what it has to in order to beef up its services as much as possible. With a service like this, it's a make or break kind of deal - if cars are deemed unsafe, word is going to get around. The company that guarantees the safest and best service will be the winner, and Uber recognizes that well.
