The FBI Is Investigating a Cyberattack on Continental Tire
Continental AG’s headquarters in Hannover, Germany Photo: Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance (Getty Images)
Earlier this month, tire manufacturer Continental revealed that it was the target of a cyberattack in August. The German company also announced that it was investigating the data breach. However, Continental has refused to comment on reports that the data is being sold online after it refused to pay a ransom. Now, American authorities are helping in the search for answers.
Reuters has reported that the U.S. FBI is now involved in the inquiry. The federal law enforcement agency was brought into the investigation by Germany’s security authorities. Reports state that the hackers have put the stolen data online, which purportedly includes budget, investment and strategy plans from Continental, along with some customer information. The data allegedly has a value of $50 million. Continental is currently the third-largest tire manufacturer in the world, behind Michelin and Bridgestone.
Cyberattacks like this have been a frequent occurrence in the automotive industry. In February, a cyberattack forced Toyota to temporarily shut down all of its production facilities in Japan. Coincidentally or not, the attack against Toyota happened just after the Japanese government aligned itself with Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion of that nation. And in October, seven gigabytes of internal documents stolen from Ferrari were published online as the Italian supercar manufacturer struggled to determine how the cyberattack took place.
