Volkswagen was hacked by hackers for years – new-facts.eu

Wolfsburg (dts news agency) – Hackers who may have originated from China spied on Volkswagen for years. This is shown by more than 40 internal documents reported by “Spiegel”.

The papers could be used to reconstruct a previously unknown mass cyberattack on Volkswagen. A clear objective: knowledge from what was once the largest automobile company in the Western world.

Hackers already targeted VW in 2010. In 2011 and 2012 they stole data. In 2013 they got admin rights and therefore more access options. Six months later, in June 2014, the data thieves returned.

All of the attacks were carried out by the same actors, which is the most likely theory, according to the company’s internal analysis. The attackers are said to have stolen up to 19,000 files. The group listed the development of gasoline engines, transmission development and dual-clutch transmission as identified goals. Unknowns were also targeting alternative driving technology concepts such as electric or fuel cells. “They were interested in broadcast control software, in technical guidelines on how to program live broadcasts, for example,” reports one of the experts familiar with the case.

VW confirmed the incident, but said it happened ten years ago. The group had already “heavily strengthened” IT security before, but also after. They don’t want to guess who caused the cyber attack. When asked, the Chinese embassy in Berlin spoke about the rumors and lies spread by the people of the United States and other Western countries. These are “outrageous allegations which we categorically reject”.

The attackers’ IP address was traced to Beijing, said an insider familiar with the process. The path leads directly to the People’s Liberation Army. In the end, however, there was no clear evidence. However, almost all experts that “Spiegel” and ZDF spoke to, including employees of the German security authorities, consider an attack by Chinese government hackers to be a high possibility.

Image: VW logo (stock), via dts news agency