Hyundai Breach – Very Sensitive Information Out in the Open

Data breaches have been occurring more frequently in recent months, affecting big companies in so many ways. However, most of the previous incidents don’t involve the exposure of crucial information – it’s mainly basic. Well, not this time. Hyundai suffered a breach and owner details in France and Italy have been totally exposed.

As we always say, the bigger the company, the more impactful the breach is. Hyundai needs no introduction – it’s a multinational automotive manufacturer that sells over a million vehicles per year everywhere.

Such a breach can cause serious damage, and it may do so in the near future. So, what information is out in the open? How crucial is the harvested data? Find out below.

Hyundai – Strong Engines, Stronger Breach

Ever since 2023 kicked off, cybercriminals have been making themselves busy by targeting large companies around the world.

Whether it’s an outsourcing service provider such as Capita or a sports promotion such as NBA, threat actors are not differentiating as long as the data is beneficial.

Now, when it’s Hyundai, it’s definitely valuable as the company is everywhere. Unfortunately, unlike the other breach incidents we’ve reported, this one does include personal information. We’re referring to data such as:

• E-mail addresses
• Physical addresses
• Telephone numbers
• Vehicle chassis numbers

Not only does the breach include those who purchased cars from Hyundai in France and Italy, but it also branches to individuals who have booked a test drive. Yes, it’s big.

The statement on Twitter says it all. Here’s a translated version for everyone who doesn’t speak native Italian. If not, the image right after the text represents the original Italian post.

“On behalf of Hyundai Motor Company Italy, I am sorry to inform you that our company recently learned that an unauthorized third party had access to some information contained in our customer database.

As soon as we were notified of the incident, we immediately launched an investigation and implemented all the measures to contain it. We turned to the best cybersecurity specialists and our lawyers to support us in managing the incident.

We informed the Guarantor for the Protection of Personal Data promptly and among the various security measures adopted, we blocked the server concerned and permanently removed it from the network.

We are continuing to work with our IT teams to ensure our systems maintain a high standard of security.”

The car-manufacturing giant said that it had taken the impacted systems offline it implements additional security measures. It also sent notices to everyone impacted warning them of possible phishing attacks.

“Although there is no evidence that the data concerned have been used for fraudulent purposes, out of extreme caution, we invite you to pay particular attention and to verify any contact attempt via e-mail, mail and/or text message that may appear to come from Hyundai Italia or by other entities of the Hyundai Group.”

Whenever something like this occurs, affected individuals should always remain vigilant when it comes to handling texts and emails.

You never know when a threat actor would decide to target you with the information they had harvested from a large company such as Hyundai.

Hyundai Breach – Take Extra Precaution

Whenever there’s a breach, personal information is always the main target. Once the threat actors get their hands on it, they can do all sorts of malicious activities.

Now, most cybercriminals are focusing on ransomware attacks. It is a huge company with massive revenue, after all.

However, there’s no evidence that it is such an attack, which brings us to phishing scams. Email addresses are part of the stolen information, so everyone affected should stay aware of such phishing campaigns.