By William Knowles @c4i

Senior Editor

InfoSec News

July 18, 2014

A team of Chinese collegiate hackers attending the Symposium on Security for Asia Network conference in Beijing has been succeeded in breaking into the software used in electric cars made by Elon Musk‘s Palo Alto California-based Tesla Motors.

The South China Morning Post is reporting that a team from Zhejiang University was awarded 10,600 yuan [Approximately $1707.34 USD] by the SyScan 360 Conference, being held July 16th and 17th 2014 at the Beijing Marriott Hotel Northeast in Beijing China Where attendees have been invited to hack into a Tesla Model S.

SyScan 360 organizers said on Friday: “Tesla Software Hack Challenge ended with team “yo”, from ZheJiang University, coming in first overall and winning 10,600 Yuan in prize money. No team succeeded in the mission of hacking Tesla’s door and engine within the timeframe of the challenge. Therefore, no one received the grand prize of $10,000 USD.”

Tesla had said it welcomed news of any vulnerabilities discovered as a result of the hacking competition. “We support the idea of providing an environment in which responsible security researchers can help identify potential vulnerabilities,” the company said on Wednesday.

“We hope that the security researchers will act responsibly and in good faith.”

The “yo” team hackers exploited a “flow design flaw” to gain access to the Tesla car’s system, SyScan360 announced on Weibo. The loophole enabled attackers to remotely unlock the vehicle, sound the horn and flash the lights, and open the sunroof while the car was in motion.

SyScan 360 organizers say they have reported the vulnerability to Tesla. Telsa shares TSLA closed at $215.40 a share, down .81% from Thursday’s close.

Steve Jurvetson via Compfight