Hack exposes thousands of Toyota owners’ personal information

Toyota has announced email addresses and customer numbers have been exposed in a potentially major security breach.

Toyota has announced that 296,019 email addresses and customer numbers have been exposed in a hack.

The car manufacturer said customers using T-Connect, a telematics service that connects vehicles via an online network, have been potentially leaked to hackers.

Toyota said the affected customers are those who signed up to the service from July 2017 onwards.

An investigation conducted by security experts could not be confirmed from the access history of the data server where the information was stored.

Toyota added that third-party access “could not be completely ruled out”.

A spokesperson for Toyota Australia said: “The T-Connect systems are Japan-based and are not linked to any services we offer in Australia.”

Toyota has announced 296,019 email addresses and customer numbers have been exposed in a hack.

The announcement came as Toyota stocks slid 0.72 per cent to 1,985.5 yen (A$21.34) on Friday.

Earlier this year, Toyota Motor said it would suspend Japanese factory operations after a supplier of electronic components was hit by a suspected cyber attack in March.

In 2019, the company was exposed to another major hack Down Under.

Toyota Australia said the attempted cyber attack affected the car company’s operations nationwide, but insisted no employee or customer data had been taken.

Originally published as Hack exposes thousands of Toyota owners’ personal information