Now more than ever, the motoring world and the tech world overlap. It's led to new cars becoming more advanced than ever before, but it's also led to a new battle for IP and discovery.
BMW are Hyundai are the latest targets in the automotive world of cyberhackers, according to a report by German publication Bayerischer Rundfunk. It's been reported that both manufacturers were recently hacked by an online group known as OceanLotus, in an attempt to access trade secrets from both parties.
While little is known about the hack on Hyundai, sources have reportedly confirmed that a hack took place on their brand was monitored for several months. Apparently, no sensitive information is said to have been discovered by the hacking group, prior to access being cut off earlier this month.
The hack itself was kicked off by the creation of fake websites. In BMW's case, a website was created that falsely implied that it belonged to BMW's division in Thailand. It would then access the network data of those to 'log in' on the site.
“We have implemented structures and processes that minimize the risk of unauthorized external access to our systems and allow us to quickly detect, reconstruct, and recover in the event of an incident,” BMW told Bayerischer Rundfunk.
It's been speculated that with its links to Vietnam, that OceanLotus' attack could have happened off the back of BMW's agreement with up and coming Vietnamese car manufacturer VinFast in March of this year.