Recently, BMW was targeted by the Everest ransomware group, which claimed to have gained access to approximately 600,000 rows of internal data and threatened to release it publicly via a countdown. While the authenticity of the incident remains to be further verified, it has already sparked widespread alarm within the cybersecurity and automotive industry.
Did you know that this 109-year-old car and motorsport manufacturer appeared on the ransomware group’s dark leak blog on Sunday.
With very little information provided on the public portion of its onion site, Everest states that it has pilfered an undisclosed amount of “Critical BMW Audit Documents” from the luxury automaker’s servers.
The post also includes a countdown clock, dated September 14th, that, as of Wednesday, shows less than 24 hours left before “the recording” will become unavailable.
The cybercriminals also provide another countdown clock, with just over 48 hours on it, stating a “Company representative should follow the instructions to contact us before time runs out.”
BMW manufactures its own branded vehicles, including its Motorrad motorcycle division, as well as Mini and Rolls-Royce cars, which it acquired in 2003.
In 2024, the premier automaker produced more than 2.4 million cars worldwide, according to Best Selling Cars, with China making 30% of those purchases, and an annual revenue of over €142 million.
Everest did not reveal in its victim post, if any of the purported stolen data contains any private customer information.
Cybernews Senior Information Security Researcher Aras Nazarovas explained that “we need to wait until Everest releases a sample of the alleged solen data to get a better idea of the scope of the breach.”
Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft (BMW) is a publicly traded automobile and motorcycle manufacturer based in Munich, Germany, which also operates as the BMW Group. With sales of €142 billion and around 159,000 employees in the 2024 financial year, BMW is one of Germany’s largest commercial enterprises and, with annual sales of 2.45 million automobiles and 210,385 motorcycles in 2024, is one of the 15 largest motor vehicle manufacturers in the world and one of the top six in terms of sales. The BMW Group includes the Mini and Rolls-Royce car brands as well as the BMW sub-brands BMW M and BMW i.
GACO Auto Team
