Volvo Falls Victim To Hackers

The Swedish car manufacturer Volvo says that is has suffered a  breach and that hackers have stolen an undisclosed amount of research and development data.

The company has not said whether the hack is a ransomware attack and has launched an urgent  investigation into a the breach and in a statement, Volvo disclosed there might be an impact on its operations.

The company was careful to say that, at this stage, it believes the theft has not compromised the safety or security of its customers’ personal data or of their cars. It is unclear when the attack took place, when Volvo noticed the attack, or how long it continued and Volvo has disclosed only limited information about the breach.

Volvo, majority-owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said the data had been stolen from an unnamed third party, which it said had contacted Volvo about the theft. In the statement, the car maker said: "Volvo Cars has become aware that one of its file repositories has been illegally accessed by a third party... Investigations so far confirm that a limited amount of the company's R&D property has been stolen during the intrusion. Volvo Cars has earlier today concluded, based on information available, that there may be an impact on the company’s operation."

Volvo's three research and development (R&D) and design centers are located in Gothenburg, in Camarillo, California, and in Shanghai, China. The company has revealed which of these sites was affected by the attack.

External cybersecurity experts have been hired to investigate the attack, and the relevant authorities in Sweden have been notified of the incident.  

Volvo Cars:   WSJ:    Oodlaoop:    Infosecurity Magazine:     Autonews:  Car Dealer:     StartUp Digital:   ZDNet: 

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