Hyundai confirms major data breach affecting car owners in Italy and France

Automobile manufacturing giant Hyundai has suffered a data breach that compromised the sensitive personal information of its customers in Italy and France.

The incident was first reported by Troy Hunt, a security researcher and creator of the breach notification website “HaveIBeenPwned”, who shared a sample of the notice sent by Hyundai to all impacted car owners in Italy and France.

According to the notice, the threat actors who infiltrated Hyundai’s internal systems accessed personal data like email addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers, and vehicle chassis numbers. Hyundai has clarified that threat actors were unable to gain access to financial data or identification numbers.

“On behalf of Hyundai Motor Company Italy, I regret to inform you that our company has recently learned that an unauthorised third party has accessed certain information contained in our customer database.

“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. In particular, we recommend that you avoid pressing any link that may be contained in the contact attempt you may receive,” the notification letter read.

The same letter has been sent to all impacted Hyundai car owners in France. The company has not shared any details on who was behind the cyber attack or how the threat actors infiltrated its network. Also, Hyundai is yet to comment on the total number of impacted individuals.

Hyundai has established a strong presence in the European market, selling 518,566 vehicles in 2022 and achieving a 4.6% market share in the continent. While it enjoys the highest market share in Spain (7.3%), it cornered 3.1% share of the passenger vehicles markets in Italy and France, respectively, last year. The company says it sold 41,017 new vehicles in Italy and 44,106 new vehicles in France in 2022.

Earlier this year, Hyundai introduced a “free anti-theft software upgrade to prevent the vehicles from starting during a method of theft popularised on TikTok and other social media channels.”

“Hyundai is committed to ensuring the quality and integrity of our products through continuous improvement and is pleased to provide affected customers with an additional theft deterrent through this software upgrade.

“We have prioritized the upgrade’s availability for owners and lessees of our highest-selling vehicles and those most targeted by thieves in order for dealers to service them first,” said Randy Parker, CEO, Hyundai Motor America.