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Carmaker informs employees of compromised personal data following ransomware attack on human resources software firm Miljödata.
Volvo North America has sent a letter to its employees informing them of a third-party data breach that has compromised their full names and social security numbers.
“We were recently informed that a supplier of human resources software to the Volvo Group, Miljödata, was a victim of a security incident in which certain of your personal information may have been accessed,” Volvo said in a data breach notification published by the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General.
The incident occurred on August 20, with the Sweden-based Miljödata becoming aware of its compromise on August 23. Following an investigation, Volvo was informed its employee data was on September 2.
According to Volvo, Miljödata is continuing to review its security policies.
“Miljödata has taken actions to implement enhanced security of the Miljödata-hosted environment and, together with cyber security experts, has promptly launched an investigation into the attack,” Volvo said.
“Miljödata is taking steps to prevent this type of incident from happening again, and Volvo Group is continuing to monitor and investigate the situation carefully.”
Volvo was just one of dozens of companies impacted by the hack, alongside 200 Swedish municipalities that also use Miljödata’s services. Data breach tracking site HaveIBeenPwned listed the data breach earlier this month, stating that the full dataset included the details of almost one million individuals.
“Following the attack, data was subsequently published on the dark web and included 870k unique email addresses across various compromised files,” HIBP said in a September 16 update.
“Data also included names, phone numbers, physical addresses, dates of birth and government-issued personal identity numbers.”
Swedish prosecutor Sandra Helgadottir, however, told the Sweden Herald that the number of people impacted by the incident was 1.5 million.
The ransomware attack was carried out by a relative newcomer, DATACARRY. This group was first observed on May 26 this year, when it posted the details of its first seven victims on its darknet leak site. Since then, it has listed another six victims, including Miljödata, which was listed on September 13.
According to the group’s ransom note, its standard ransom demand is one Bitcoin, or roughly US$167,000.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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