Published: August 25, 2024 on our newsletter Security Fraud News & Alerts Newsletter.
Toyota has confirmed a significant data breach after a threat actor, known as ZeroSevenGroup, leaked 240GB of stolen data on a cybercrime forum. The stolen data reportedly includes sensitive information about Toyota employees, customers, contracts, financial details, and network infrastructure, among other things. The breach specifically targeted a U.S. branch of Toyota, although the company downplayed the incident, stating that it was limited in scope and not a system-wide issue.
Despite this, the scale of the breach is concerning, as the data includes a wide range of sensitive details. The leaked information appears to have been extracted from a backup server, with the data archive reportedly created on December 25, 2022. This suggests that the attackers may have had access to Toyota’s systems for an extended period before the breach was discovered.
Toyota has already notified the affected individuals and is providing assistance where needed. They did not specify what assistance that was included. The ZeroSevenGroup announced the breach online, offering the stolen data for free and claiming to have also captured network credentials and other critical information.
Whenever you are alerted by a company that your information on their system was accessed and may be used by cybercriminals, take advantage of any credit monitoring assistance you’re offered. In addition, consider freezing your credit reports. You can do this with each of the three major credit bureaus by visiting their websites. Congress has required those organizations to allow everyone to freeze and unfreeze their reports at no charge. It’s also possible to temporarily release a freeze for a defined period of time, should you need someone to get access to it. Just remember that if you do freeze your credit, no one can access it, including you. And if you do enable credit monitoring, keep in mind that it doesn’t stop someone from abusing your information. The monitoring companies merely alert you when someone tries to open accounts in your name.
In a separate, but likely related incident, Toyota Financial Services (TFS) previously warned customers in December 2023 about a separate data breach that exposed personal and financial information. The Medusa ransomware gang claimed responsibility for that breach and threatened to leak the data unless a ransom was paid.
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