As vehicle technology improves in today's digital age, so do its security risks. We often find evidence of such risks, where people's highly personal and confidential data is leaked on various digital platforms. This time, the world-famous German car manufacturer Volkswagen has fallen victim to such an incident.
Personal data including the location of Volkswagen EVs or electric vehicles has been leaked online. Among these electric cars are Volkswagen, Audi, Seats and Skoda brands.
According to a report by German newspaper Der Spiegel, Volkswagen's software company Cariad had data in Amazon cloud storage. But they were unprotected for months. These included data on the movements of Volkswagen car owners. For example: where the vehicle is started and when it is stopped.
Der Spiegel also reported that those whose information was leaked included German politicians, businessmen and the Hamburg police force's fleet of EVs. There is a danger that even the information of the personnel of the intelligence agencies will be leaked.
These data leaked from Amazon cloud storage due to faulty technical setup. Hacker association Chaos Computer Club (CCC) first noticed the issue. An anonymous hacker reported the matter to the German federal cabinet and police. Volkswagen and Cariad were then given 30 days to preserve the information before making the matter public.
Of the 800,000 vehicles leaked, 460,000 Volkswagen and Seats brand vehicles had their location data accurate to within 10 centimeters (3.9 inches). And Audi and Skoda vehicle location data was accurate to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).
Volkswagen said the error has been fixed. No one else will get that data. Despite the security flaw, no passwords or payment data were leaked. Moreover, only those vehicles that were registered for the online service were leaked.
References: techspot
