Volkswagensaysmorethan3.3millioncustomershadtheirinformationexposedafteroneofitsvendorsleftacacheofcustomerdataunsecuredontheinternet.
Thecarmakersaidinaletterthatthevendor,usedbyVolkswagen,itssubsidiaryAudiandauthorizeddealersintheU.S.andCanada,leftthecustomerdataspanning2014to2019unprotectedoveratwo-yearwindowbetweenAugust2019andMay2021.
Thedata,whichVolkswagensaidwasgatheredforsalesandmarketing,containedpersonalinformationaboutcustomersandprospectivebuyers,includingtheirname,postalandemailaddresses,andphonenumber.
Butmorethan90,000customersacrosstheU.S.andCanadaalsohadmoresensitivedataexposed,includinginformationrelatingtoloaneligibility.Thelettersaidmostofthesensitivedatawasdriver’slicensenumbers,butthata“small”numberofrecordsalsoincludedacustomer’sdateofbirthandSocialSecuritynumbers.
Howtorespondtoadatabreach
Volkswagenwouldnotnamethevendor,whenasked.“Wehavealsoinformedtheappropriateauthorities,includinglawenforcementandregulators,andareworkingwithexternalcybersecurityexpertsandthevendortoassessandrespondtothissituation,”saidaspokesperson,viaacrisiscommunicationsfirm.
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It’sthelatestsecurityincidentinvolvingdriverlicensenumbersinrecentmonths.InsurancegiantsMetromileandGeicoadmittedearlierthisyearthattheirquoteformshadbeenabusedbyscammerstryingtoobtaindriverlicensenumbers.Severalothercarinsurancecompanieshavealsoreportedsimilarincidentsinvolvingthetheftofdriverlicensenumbers.Geicosaiditwaslikelyaneffortbyscammerstofileandcashfraudulentunemploymentbenefitsinanotherperson’sname.
Volkswagen’sletter,however,didnotsayifthecompanyhadevidencethatthedataexposedbythevendorwasmisused.
Geicoadmitsfraudstersstolecustomers’driver’slicensenumbersformonths
