Volkswagen leak exposed location data for 800,000 electric cars

For months, the determination accusation of astir 800,000 electrical Volkswagen vehicles was disposable online owed to a information leak, according to a study from the German quality mag Der Spiegel. The leak reportedly stemmed from the bundle moving wrong Volkswagen vehicles and could've allowed a atrocious histrion to hint a driver’s nonstop movements, as noted by Electrek.

A whistleblower archetypal notified Der Spiegel and the European hacking relation Chaos Computer Club of the vulnerability, which besides affects EVs from Volkswagen-owned car brands connected a planetary scale, including Audi, Seat, and Skoda.

Der Spiegel recovered that Cariad, the Volkswagen subsidiary down the automaker's software, made it imaginable for an attacker to find and entree operator information housed successful Amazon’s unreality retention service. The data, which “could beryllium linked to the names and interaction details of the drivers,” reportedly included details astir erstwhile EVs were switched connected and off, on with the emails, telephone numbers, and addresses of drivers successful immoderate cases.

It included the “precise” locations of astir 460,000 vehicles, arsenic Der Spiegel says the information was “accurate to wrong 10 centimeters” for Volkswagen and Seats vehicles, and wrong 10km (~6 miles) for Audi and Skoda models.

Cariad has since addressed the issue, telling Der Spiegel customers have ”no request to instrumentality immoderate action, arsenic nary delicate accusation specified arsenic passwords oregon outgo details are affected.” The Verge reached retired to Cariad and Volkswagen with requests for remark but didn’t instantly perceive back.