While the company says it has found no evidence of malicious use of the exposed data, the incident highlights a growing threat as car manufacturers squeeze vehicle connectivity and AI-enabled features require the collection of vast amounts of data.
You can check what types of data a particular car manufacturer may collect and share with this free car privacy tool from Privacy4Cars.
The United States and its allies have successfully disabled Russian malware that one of the Kremlin’s most sophisticated hacking units has installed on hundreds of computers around the world. After spending years monitoring a malware network called Snake, the FBI developed and deployed a tool called Perseus — named after the monster-slaying Greek hero — that causes malware to overwrite and disable itself, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
Snake is developed and operated by Turla, a popular state-sponsored hacking group linked to Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB. Prosecutors said Russian spies behind Turla used versions of the Snake malware to steal sensitive documents from dozens of governments, journalists and “other targets of interest to the Russian Federation”.
According to unsealed court documents, the Snake malware operates as a “peer-to-peer” network connecting infected computers around the world, allowing Torla to install malware and extract data.
Europe this week came close to banning facial recognition in public places with lawmakers’ agreement to strengthen proposed legislation governing how artificial intelligence technology is used in the European Union.
In a vote Thursday morning, MEPs agreed to include the ban in the text of the hotly anticipated Artificial Intelligence Act, the world’s first comprehensive piece of legislation governing the technology. “This vote is a milestone in the regulation of artificial intelligence and a clear signal from Parliament that fundamental rights should be the cornerstone of this,” MP Kim Van Sparentak told Reuters. “Artificial intelligence should serve people, society and the environment, not the other way around.”
The company said on Wednesday that a group of ransomware attempted to extort money from Dragos, a leading industrial cybersecurity firm, in a failed campaign targeting company executives.
While the hackers gained access to a limited set of customer data, Dragos said he chose not to engage with the collection. “The data that was lost and likely to be made public because we chose not to pay the extortion value is unfortunate,” the company said. “However, we hope that highlighting an opponent’s methods will help others consider additional defenses against these methods so that they do not fall victim to similar efforts.”
