Ferrari suffers cyber attack, customer information leaked

According to Automotive News, the well-known Italian car brand Ferrari recently issued an announcement confirming that it had suffered a cyber attack and was blackmailed by hackers.

The hacker attack caused the personal information of some customers to be leaked. The hackers are currently threatening Ferrari to pay a ransom or else they will release customer information, including contact information, email addresses, etc.

Image source: Ferrari

In its latest statement, Ferrari made it clear that it would not pay ransom to hackers, saying that paying ransom would only "continue to encourage criminal activity." The company said it has promptly contacted customers to alert them of the potential data breach risk and the nature of the case. "We can confirm that the offenses have had no impact on the company's operational functions."

At the same time, Ferrari refused to disclose the specific time of the incident and the amount of the ransom, and did not explain whether user information was encrypted. 

At present, the company has teamed up with a third-party network security company to investigate and strengthen its information technology system, and has also reported to relevant law enforcement agencies to launch a comprehensive legal investigation. 

Dror Liwer, co-founder of Israeli cybersecurity firm Coro Cybersecurity, said: “While most organizations typically do not encrypt customer information and view it as an asset, the potential risk of a breach could actually turn it into a liability.” Dror Liwer explained that once the relevant data is leaked, the organization may face direct economic losses such as lawsuits and fines, as well as revenue losses caused by litigation and regulatory actions.

Data shows that the number of cyber attacks against automobile companies has gradually increased in recent years. In 2022, the Israeli cybersecurity company Upstream counted a total of 268 cyber attacks on automobile companies, an increase of 9.39% from the previous year.

According to the plan, electric vehicle sales will account for 80% of Ferrari's total sales by 2030, but electric vehicles will rely more on software and the Internet, which may lead to more cyber attacks.

According to HackerOne, a US cybersecurity company, compared with other industries, the automotive industry is most likely to neglect information security and invest the least in filling information system vulnerabilities. Currently, the company is running a "bug bounty" program for BMW, Ford, Rivian and Toyota, paying "white hat hackers" to report vulnerabilities in their systems to strengthen their firewalls.