Chinese State Hackers Targeted Volkswagen IT Systems from 2010 to 2015, Stealing 19,000 Documents

Hackers had access to the IT systems of the German car manufacturer Volkswagen between 2010 and 2015. German media writes this and it is confirmed by Volkswagen. 19,000 documents were stolen. According to the German media, all roads lead to China.

German news magazine Der Spiegel and public broadcaster ZDF application that the cyber attack began in 2010. The hackers are said to have analyzed Volkswagen’s IT systems this year to identify weaknesses. In 2011, the hackers reportedly started stealing data and documents and this continued unnoticed in the years to come. In 2013, the hackers managed to gain administrator privileges and thus penetrate even deeper into the German car manufacturer’s IT systems.

The actors are said to have managed to steal more than 19,000 documents. According to Der Spiegel and ZDF, they were mainly looking for information on the development of petrol engines, gearboxes, dual-clutch transmission systems, e-mobility and fuel cells. Volkswagen noticed in early June 2014 that their IT systems had been hacked. This was because the hackers made a typo. This typo reportedly caused the IT systems to suddenly start demanding a lot more capacity and that was noted. The German car manufacturer then assembled a team of security experts to monitor the hackers and take the necessary measures.

According to German journalists, it was possible to check the IP addresses of the hackers and they seemed to come from China. According to Der Spiegel and ZDF, hackers always stopped their activities at a certain time. According to German news media, that time corresponded to 4pm in the Asian country. This makes the media suspect that these are Chinese state hackers with office work and office hours associated with them.

Volkswagen has confirmed the hack. The German car company emphasizes that the attack happened more than ten years ago and that the company has improved its IT systems since then. The German car manufacturer has not yet entered the reality.