Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Nio recently revealed a major data breach that exposed certain confidential customer and vehicle sales-related information before August 2021.
It is believed the hackers emailing Nio had demanded $2.25 million worth of Bitcoin in exchange for not leaking their internal data.
The company has put in place measures to respond to the incident, such as an exclusive hotline and email address, plus a customer service representative, who stated that they would take responsibility for any losses experienced.
This incidence of cybercrime comes at a time when the Chinese government is heavily pressuring all corporations to pay closer attention and improve upon the protection of personal data and heighten corporate responsibility.
Nio apologized for the incident while stressing that it remains committed to safeguarding data security and privacy. It also added that it would continue to work with government authorities to investigate the incident.
Ransomware is a malicious type of software that takes control of a computer and blocks access to data until a ransom is paid. Ransomware encrypts important files, making them unusable and demanding that the user pay a fee in order to regain access. Bitcoin is often the payment method used in ransomware attacks since it allows for an anonymous, untraceable exchange of funds between victim and attacker.
As reported by U.Today, a major Indian hospital was recently hit with a severe ransomware attack, with hackers demanding a Bitcoin payment.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
