Volvo Hit by Cyber Theft of Mental Property

“Investigations thus far affirm {that a} restricted quantity of the corporate’s R&D property has been stolen through the intrusion,” the automotive maker stated in a press release, including that based mostly on info it had gathered “there could also be an influence on the corporate’s operation.”

Volvo declined to elaborate in regards to the breach and its potential influence on its enterprise however stated that based mostly on present info the protection or safety of its prospects’ automobiles or private knowledge shouldn’t be affected.

Volvo stated it was finishing up its personal investigation of the breach along with an outdoor specialist, however didn’t elaborate. It stated it had taken precautions to stop additional entry to its property and notified related authorities in regards to the theft.

Cyberattacks on companies and establishments have accelerated lately as corporations and authorities authorities make extra inner knowledge accessible on-line, together with by storing it on third-party servers that function cloud companies.

It isn’t clear if the occasion that contacted Volvo is demanding a ransom. So-called ransomware assaults, wherein hackers disable a company’s pc programs or encrypt its knowledge and demand a ransom to relinquish management, have accelerated lately.

One of many greatest cyberattacks thus far occurred this summer season when Kaseya VSA, which makes software program utilized by giant corporations and technology-services suppliers to handle and distribute software program updates to programs on pc networks, was hit by a gaggle of hackers referred to as REvil. The assault might have affected as many as 40,000 computer systems world-wide, in accordance with cybersecurity specialists.

Auto makers are significantly involved that the event of computer-driven autonomous automobiles might open the door for hackers to take management of an individual’s automotive and trigger harm and even the demise of passengers or passersby.

In April, cyber specialists demonstrated at a tech convention that it was potential to hack a Tesla car and open its locked doorways utilizing a drone carrying a Wi-Fi dongle. Tesla responded by issuing a software program patch to shut the vulnerability.

A report by consulting group McKinsey & Co. in 2020 stated that new automobiles being produced at the moment comprise round 100 million traces of pc code, including that the quantity might triple by 2030 as autonomous automobiles and V2X (car to every thing) communication over knowledge networks turns into widespread.

“This quantity of code creates ample alternative for cyberattacks—not solely on the automotive itself but additionally on all elements of its ecosystem” reminiscent of computer systems storing recordsdata in knowledge facilities and knowledge expertise infrastructure, McKinsey wrote within the report.

—Dominic Chopping in Stockholm contributed to this text.

Write to William Boston at william.boston@wsj.com