The Car Hacker's Handbook
The Car Hacker's Handbook by Craig Smithby Smith, Craig (Reverse engineer)
Tied for most recommended of 4 security books
People recommend it as a first step into car hacking, and one commenter says it covers the software side as well as the rest. No critics raised complaints.
People recommend it as a first step into car hacking, and one commenter says it covers the software side as well as the rest. No critics raised complaints.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Covers everything needed, including software
“Gives you all the info you need including software.”
Comment from 9 Jul 2026 in “All Cars Sold in the EU Now Require a Camera Aimed at Your Face” Good place to start
“That one is good. I did actually start there”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “All Cars Sold in the EU Now Require a Camera Aimed at Your Face” “may be of interest as a first step review”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Toyota unintended acceleration and the big bowl of "spaghetti" code (2013)”
Other security books people recommend
The three most recommended other security books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Car Hacker's Handbookby Smith, Craig (Reverse engineer)This page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Applied Cryptographyby Bruce Schneier | 3 | 1 | 75% | 2 | — | — |
| Hacking the Xboxby Andrew "Bunnie" Huang | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Silence on the Wireby Michal Zalewski | 2 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“That one is good. I did actually start there”
“Gives you all the info you need including software.”
“may be of interest as a first step review”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.