Published 20:38 IST, January 1st 2025
Volkswagen allegedly suffers Data Leak, Exposes Personal details of 8,00,000 EV owners
As Volkswagen is already in crises globally, it is alleged in the leak of personal information of about 8,00,000 EV owners for a month.
Personal Details Leaked: As Volkswagen is already in crises globally, cutting down jobs and shutting its plants, Cariad, a Volkswagen’s subsidiary company, that provides software to VW cars and its group reportredly left the personal data, which includes personal information, geolocations of the cars online and accessible for months, according to a report from a German news magazine Der Spiegel. It further stated that this data leak exposed the information of some 8,00,000 EV owners.
Which Other Brands were Affected?
According to the German news magazine Der Spiegel, the leak involved EVs from Audi, Skoda, Seat, and VW owners from Germany, Europe and other parts of the world.
How Accurate was the Data Leak?
The German news magazine, Der Spiegel stated that the data was so precise that for VW and Seats vehicle owners, the data was ‘accurate to within ten centimetres’ and for Audi and Skoda vehicle owners, it was accurate within 10km range.
Who Signalled the Data Leak?
An anonymous hacker notified the European hacking association, Chaos Computer Club. The sensitive information of the EV owners was left exposed and misconfigured on the Amazon cloud storage system for months. According to Electrek, the data leak problem has now been patched.
How many EV owners were affected?
According to Electrek, it stated that the data leak was so intense that out of 8,00,000 vehicles involved, the data of about 4,66,000 owners was precise anyone could track the daily routine of the drivers.
Impacted Users
Der Spiegel further stated that the list of owners who got impacted includes German politicians, the entire EV fleet driven by Hamburg police, entrepreneurs. According to Der Spiegel, it even suspected intelligence service employees to be affected under this data leak.
Further Developments
Cardiad had responded to Der Spiegel stating that no sensitive data of the owners was exposed. It further added for the customers that, “don’t need to take any action, as no sensitive information like passwords or payment data is affected.”
Updated 20:38 IST, January 1st 2025