Chinese hackers allegedly attacked VW for years

Between 2010 and 2015, car manufacturer Volkswagen is said to have been the focus of Chinese hackers. The hackers are said to have stolen tens of thousands of documents in several waves over a period of years, including confidential information from the world’s largest car manufacturer at the time.

Years of cyber attacks on VW

Over a period of five years, the entire VW Group is said to have been the target of repeated cyber attacks. This was reported by Der Spiegel and ZDF, among others. The attackers are said to have accessed important internal documents as well as details on engines and gearboxes.

The hackers are said to have repeatedly penetrated the company’s systems over a period of years in order to gain access to information. According to a reconstruction of the hack, the IT networks are said to have been analyzed in 2010 in order to uncover vulnerabilities.

the first data was then stolen in 2011, and this is said to have been possible for a whole four years. Among other things, the hackers targeted VW’s e-car plans, as reported by ZDF. According to Microsoft, it is said to have been the largest cyberattack worldwide, as a result of which the entire systems had to be reset.

Internal documents also mention which data in particular the hackers had in mind, including the development of petrol engines, transmission development and, in particular, dual-clutch transmissions. Data on e-mobility, alternative drive systems such as fuel cells and automatic transmissions was also stolen.

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The traces lead to China

IT experts in charge of the case were able to recover files that hackers had sent to the company’s own servers and then deleted. In total, around 19,000 documents are said to have been stolen.

The documents also show that IP addresses from China, among others, were identified. The espionage software and methods used also indicate that the hacks were carried out from China. According to the Spiegel report, a person familiar with the case is even said to have found a direct lead to the People’s Liberation Army.

The Chinese embassy in Germany, however, is outraged and denies the allegations. VW has now officially confirmed the incident on request and stated that internal cyber security has been greatly improved since then. The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), on the other hand, continues to warn of the dangers. German industry is still at risk when it comes to espionage activities from China and other countries.