Tesla Motors Snags “Hacker Princess” From Apple

Tesla Motors recently snagged the “Hacker Princess” away from Apple Computers, in a shroud of secrecy.

Kristin Paget, who was able to choose her own title at Apple and chose Hacker Princess, said on her twitter account recently that the new position was “something security-related” but that she “shouldn’t say too much” publicly.

What has two thumbs and starts on Monday at Tesla Motors? This girl right here 🙂

— Kristin Paget (@KristinPaget) February 7, 2014

A rock star in the IT security world, Apple hired her in late 2012 as a security researcher. In 2007, Paget and a select team of hackers assisted in securing Microsoft Vista’s operating system. At Defcon 2010, she demonstrated the vulnerabilities in cell phone calls by using a fake cell phone tower to intercept calls.

From day one, security has been a major issue in the information technology world, whether its cellular phones, e-commerce, or the Internet. As electric vehicles continue to become more popular in the market, it will face many of the same security concerns, as IT and cleantech fuse together.

Tesla Motors can simply implement software updates as “recalls.” It was co-founded by a computer software engineer and a computer hardware engineer. Advanced software solutions are key to Tesla’s performance and success. But they also open security risks. Tesla Motors, by hiring Paget, has made an astute move. The company is currently moving forward in addressing some of its security concerns in its version 6.0 of the Model S software package (due shortly).

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