Spotlight on Keynotes & Panels: SOS 2026 Brings Global Leaders Together to Address Automotive Cybersecurity Challenges

As SOS 2026 draws near, ASRG unveils the keynotes, live exploit demonstrations, and panel discussions headlining its 5th annual conference.

DETROIT, MI, UNITED STATES, September 8, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- With Secure Our Streets (SOS) 2026 fast approaching, the Automotive Security Research Group (ASRG) today spotlighted the keynotes, live exploit demonstrations, and panel discussions headlining its 5th annual automotive cybersecurity conference, taking place online and free of charge on Thursday, September 17, 2026.

Now in its fifth year, SOS has grown into one of the automotive industry's largest practitioner-led gatherings on vehicle cybersecurity, reaching practitioners in more than 60 countries and drawing over 3,000 registered attendees in past editions. This year's program brings together voices spanning psychology, automotive engineering, digital forensics, and vulnerability research.

KEYNOTES:
1. Dr. Mark T. Hofmann, Crime & Intelligence Analyst known as "Dr. Darknet" to CNN, 60 Minutes Australia, and Forbes, opens the conference with The Dark Side of AI: How Hackers Use AI and Deepfakes. Drawing on a doctorate in psychology focused on hacker motivations and firsthand conversations with attackers in darknet forums, Hofmann's keynote goes inside the mind of a modern attacker, examining how AI and deepfakes are being weaponized in cybercrime, and what it takes to build a genuine "human firewall" against threats that grow more convincing by the year.

2. Florian Rohde, Managing Partner at iProcess Consulting and former Senior Manager of Vehicle Firmware Validation at Tesla, presents Inside Tesla: The Birth of the Software-Defined Vehicle. From 2012 to 2018, Rohde built Tesla's continuous validation concept, a system capable of taking a vehicle software package from code change to over-the-air deployment in as little as 24 hours. His session takes attendees behind the scenes of how validation was embedded into daily development rather than treated as a final checkpoint, and what that shift means for engineering organizations still working the traditional way.

PANEL DISCUSSIONS:
Three panel discussions anchor this year's program:

1. Understanding the Hype: Will AI Eat Cybersecurity for Breakfast? Moderated by Jennifer Tisdale (President, Secure Vision Consulting), with Akshay Chalana (CEO, Saphira AI), Dr. Andre Weimerskirch (COO, Block Harbor Cybersecurity), Cassie Crossley (CEO, VulNow), and Natasha Alkhatib, PhD (Renault Group), this panel separates real AI value from hype, examining where AI already delivers results in threat detection, SOC automation, and incident response, and where it introduces new risks such as prompt injection and model poisoning.

2. Current State of Automotive Cybersecurity. Moderated by Faye Francy (Executive Director, Auto-ISAC), with John Krzeszewski (Director of Product Security, Brunswick Corporation, and Chair of the SAE Vehicle Cybersecurity Systems Engineering Committee), Dr. Priti Ranadive, Michael Schneider (AUMOVIO Germany), and Paul Wooderson (Chief Engineer for Cybersecurity, HORIBA MIRA), this panel takes stock of what's working in ISO/SAE 21434 and UNECE R155/R156, what remains unsolved, and where the industry needs to go next.

3. Beyond Cars: Securing the Future of Connected Two-Wheel Mobility. As e-bikes and motorcycles become increasingly connected, they face a cybersecurity landscape far less mature than the automotive industry's. Panelists Nikolaos Papanikoloudis (Yamaha E-Bike Systems Germany), Thomas Faschang (KTM / Bajaj Mobility), Irene Seidler (freelance Machine Safety and Cybersecurity expert), Jagor Čakmak (Porsche E-Bikes Performance), and Klemen Dobravec (MAHLE Electric Drives) discuss fragmented regulation, cost pressure from low-cost imports, and what real industry collaboration could look like as cybersecurity shifts from a competitive differentiator to a baseline requirement.

EXPLOIT STORIES:
SOS 2026 continues its tradition of live, first-hand walkthroughs of real vulnerabilities, from discovery to disclosure:

1. Danilo Erazo, Security Researcher at PCAutomotive, traces the story behind three CVEs uncovered in a widely used rolling-code algorithm found in aftermarket Chinese remote keyless entry systems, some deployed by car dealerships across Latin America, walking through the research journey, the real-world vehicle theft risk it exposed, and the disclosure timeline.

2. Vishwas C N, Senior Cybersecurity Consultant and Lead Developer at CyMobility, brings over 16 years in secure embedded systems and 250-plus TARAs to a live demonstration of how an attacker with physical access to a vehicle's wiring can splice into the CAN bus and defeat the immobilizer entirely, the same technique behind a real wave of keyless vehicle thefts, conducted under written authorization for defensive research.

3. Noel Lowdon, Director at Harper Shaw Investigation Consultants and Vehicle Systems Forensics Specialist since 2016, demonstrates controlled acquisition of root access to an infotainment head unit using "Frankie," a forensics rig built from 2018 Audi RS4 components, and unpacks what that access means for serious crime and collision investigations.

THE FULL AGENDA:
Beyond the headline sessions, SOS 2026 features an additional 24 sessions spanning topics including Architecture & Secure SDLC, Offensive Research, Detection & Response, and Standards & Policy. The complete agenda is available at https://sos.asrg.io/#schedule

REGISTRATION:
Attendance is free. Attendees can reserve a seat for SOS 2026 at: http://tinyurl.com/2s45f83j

In keeping with SOS tradition, all 2026 content will eventually be made freely available online. This year, however, marks a change: for the first time, sessions will not be released to the public archive until 2027. Attendees who want the latest thinking on automotive cybersecurity as it happens are encouraged to join the conference live on September 17.

ABOUT ASRG:
The Automotive Security Research Group (ASRG) is a non-profit community dedicated to advancing the security of connected and autonomous vehicles. Through initiatives like Secure Our Streets, ASRG connects OEMs, suppliers, researchers, academics, and regulators to share knowledge and strengthen the cybersecurity of vehicles worldwide.

Save the date, September 17, and join us in shaping the future of automotive security!

X: https://x.com/SecureOurStreet
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/secure-our-streets/

John Heldreth
Automotive Security Research Group
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