HackersEra: India’s First Vehicle Pentest Company

Automotive Penetration Testing is one of the most effective methods to uncover potential IT security gaps by attempting to penetrate the system.

HackersEra understands the need to predict and prevent scenarios of cyber threats that might be launched against vehicle interfaces, risking the lives of drivers, pedestrians, and damaging properties.

Automotive Penetration Testing is one of the most effective methods to uncover potential IT security gaps by attempting to penetrate the system.

Self-driven cars: The want of tomorrow; Vehicle cybersecurity: the need

With the automotive industry advancing towards autonomous driving, more and more cars are being connected to a backend system on the Internet. As a result, the security of automotive systems has become a crucial factor in the process of developing self-driving cars.

Increased vehicle connectivity and automation have led to IT security functions becoming an indispensable part of the in-vehicle network and its components. It all boils down to how safe is the ECU (Electronic Control Unit) and vehicle network really from unauthorized access and manipulation?

HackersEra: Providing Automotive Security in India

HackersEra believes that it is vitally essential for the automotive industry to make vehicle cybersecurity an organizational priority and take adequate measures towards it. HackersEra has emerged to be the first Indian company to provide Automotive Security in India.

Over the years, HackersEra has been successful in providing comprehensive solutions, facilitating overall security through their planned strategies for various assets of an organization.

The multitalented team with a strong vigour to provide automotive security plans to eliminate all the threats associated with it. In the last few years, the team has taken numerous leaps in this growing field of services in the cybersecurity field.

In the words of the CEO, Mr. Vikash Chaudhary, “By the time it’s too late, most companies might not be prepared to face a data breach. We, at HackersEra, aim to assist such companies and organizations with an all-inclusive solution towards strengthening cyberspace. Keeping that in mind, we have considered cybersecurity as a fundamental right of humans and we are determined to assist the global automotive ecosystem.”

We at HackersEra, aim to focus on the low levels of risk initially that can occur due to spoofing or tampering of the data sent to the vehicles’ sensors, thereby avoiding or putting a halt to major exploitations.

With proper awareness, ethical practice, and general alertness most people can eliminate the threats independently on a personal level. But that won’t be enough as some of the malicious actors have grown exceptional in technology and overcoming them is one of the challenges that the company aims to tackle.

Why do we need vehicle pentesting? No car manufacturer wants to face a cyber-attack directed at their vehicles.

The need to enable vehicle-to-internet communication and additional remote accessibility has significantly increased the attack surface of a modern car. Pentesting involves identifying and checking technical vulnerabilities. The targets of a hacker attack against a connected vehicle are as varied as the methods that can be used.

Pentesting is typically used to test individual ECUs, several ECUs in a network, or even complete vehicle platforms. If security gaps unexpectedly appear when the vehicle is in the field, key tests are missed, or new attack techniques emerge, pentesting comes in as the saviour.

Attack vectors are numerous, and it is almost impossible to grasp the whole potential a car can offer. Compromising systems, stealing confidential information, or influencing the availability of services are just a few examples.

Nevertheless, pentesting to the common tongue may still be a mystery that most electric car users are yet to unfold.

Softwares, embedded and integrated systems of today are directly interacting with the vehicle. As much as this has enhanced customer experience, it also increases system vulnerability.

Internet connectivity is now essential to the automotive ecosystem: over-the-air (OTA) software updates, cloud-backed services, and backend analytics rely on this “always-on” connectivity. Network interface technologies such as Bluetooth, GPS, and RF, etc., and most of the other applications that we access easily, sitting in our vehicle, make heavy utilization of the connectivity model, using various low-power protocols to facilitate our comfort.

Cybersecurity specialists place themselves in the role of the attacker and adopt their ways of thinking as well as their attack procedures, reliably identifying and checking technical vulnerabilities in order to derive targeted countermeasures.

It often starts at a later stage in the development process, when at least some of the functions essential for the test are complete. Unlike purely automated test procedures, pentesting includes an in-depth, customized examination of the system by a security expert under realistic conditions. The results are often decisive for the system’s marketability and approval for market launch in terms of IT security.

One of the highest growing services in the field, HackersEra, led by Mr. Vikash Chaudhary and his dynamic team aims to provide cybersecurity consulting services to clients globally and conceptualize, realize and lead technology-driven business transformation initiatives to completion.