A decade-long data breach in Toyota’s much-touted online service put data on more than 2 million vehicles at risk, the Japanese automaker said on Friday.
From January 2012 to April 2023, the problem with Toyota’s cloud-based Connected service affects only vehicles in Japan, spokesman Hideaki Homma said.
The Connected service reminds owners to get maintenance checks and links to stream entertainment and provides help during emergencies. You can call for help after a crash or locate a stolen car.
No issues stemming from the breach have been reported so far.
While there is no evidence that any information was leaked, copied or misused due to the breach, the data at risk includes: the vehicle identification number, which is separate from the license plate; the location of the vehicle and what time it was there; and video footage taken by the vehicle, known as a “drive recorder” in Japan.
Such information cannot be used to identify individual owners, according to Toyota Motor Corp., which makes the luxury Prius hybrid and Lexus models.
Vehicles belonging to some 2.15 million people have been affected, including those using network services called G-Link, G-Book and Connected.
Toyota Connected service in Japan is operated by a subsidiary. Until recently, no one noticed that external access to such information should have been disabled, Homma said.
“We are very sorry that we caused so much trouble for all the people,” he said.
The problem is a major embarrassment for Japan’s top automaker, which has built a reputation for quality and attention to detail.
Automakers around the world compete to differentiate offerings of models with the latest technology to attract buyers.
The problem with the system has been fixed, Homma said, so it’s safe to continue driving Connect-enabled vehicles as usual, and there’s no need to take them in for repair.
https://apnews.com/article/toyota-data-breach-connected-service-7f686c990daf3cd85b57d7ffaa27c81a
Category: Japan
