India’s AIS-189 type approval is now within reach for Tata Motors’ Sierra EV. The electric SUV came through penetration testing run by Pune firm HackersEra, whose August 19 announcement covered the completed engagement, probing both the whole vehicle and its individual electronic control units.
The testing spanned the SUV’s entire connected stack, HackersEra said, and the team worked hand in hand with Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers on fixes. The target: a security layout that meets the AIS-189 standard India applies to connected vehicles while holding onto the performance buyers expect from a premium electric SUV.
Sven Patuschka, CTO of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, argues buyers will only embrace internet-connected cars they can trust. HackersEra’s Vikash Chaudhary, its founder and CEO, described the AIS-189 milestone as a buyer commitment, arguing the tests tighten the Sierra EV’s connected defenses and trim risk across the ownership cycle.
AIS-189 is India’s mandatory cybersecurity standard for motor vehicles and sits inside a wider global push that includes ISO/SAE 21434 and UNECE R155. The firm was founded in 2015 and calls itself India’s first dedicated vehicle-security specialist, running an ISO/IEC 17025:2017 test laboratory for passenger and commercial vehicle security alongside ISO 27001, ISO 9001, and ISO 14001 certifications. Tata says the Sierra EV is now among the first Indian-market models to reach type approval readiness under the new rules.
