GM hires hackers for its self-driving cars

GM Hack Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, best known for remotely hacking a Jeep in 2015, are now going to work for GM's self-driving car line, Cruise. The two hackers, most recently with Uber and the Chinese car company Didi Chuxing, will now go to work at Cruise, which is getting a $14 million R&D center in San Francisco, CA.

GM has more than 50 self-driving cars on the road in Detroit, MI, Scottsdale, AZ and San Francisco, CA. And lawmakers are eager to get 100,000 autonomous cars on the road in coming months.

The Detroit News reports that both Miller and Valasek will also be employed by GM's cybersecurity group as well. GM's Bolt self-driving car is just one of several autonomous vehicles being tested today — and securing them is key to drivers trusting their safety. Locking self-driving cars down from hackers is something auto makers want as much as buyers. Hiring hackers, the people who know how to find weaknesses in autonomous technology, is part of that plan.

Have a spare 45 minutes? Both Miller and Valasek walked DEF CON attendees in 2015 how they hacked a factory car in detail.

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Photo: Detroit, MI, USA – People exit the General Motors World Headquarters building located in Detroit, Michigan. (iStock by Getty Images)