Eagers Automotive cyberattack lead to a temporary suspension of trading on the stock exchange. Eagers Automotive operates a vast network of car dealerships across Australia and New Zealand, and is currently assessing the impact of the incident.
With over 300 selling points for renowned brands like Toyota, BMW, Nissan, and more, Eagers Automotive also has subsidiaries dedicated to second-hand sales. The company boasts a workforce of 8,500 employees and generated revenues of AU$4.82 billion (USD$3.25 billion) in the first half of 2023.
The Cyberattack on Eagers Automotive prompted the company to make an announcement on December 27, 2023, stating that it would temporarily suspend trading operations. This decision was made in order to effectively fulfill its disclosure obligations related to the recent cybersecurity incident.
Shortly after the Eagers Automotive cybersecurity incident, the company provided additional details about the incident, highlighting that it has affected multiple systems throughout Australia and New Zealand.
“The outage is currently impacting our IT systems in some operating locations across Australia and New Zealand, but the full extent of the cyber incident cannot yet be ascertained,”.
“External experts have been appointed to support our response and an urgent investigation is underway.”
Reads the press release.
Eagers Automotive Alerted ACSC After the Cybersecurity Incident
Eagers Automotive promptly alerted the Australian Cybersecurity Centre and the New Zealand National Cybersecurity Center regarding the cybersecurity incident.
Given the company’s extensive scale and its nature of operations, there is a valid concern about the potential impact on a large number of customers, including the potential exposure of sensitive financial data.
Although the company expressed regret for any inconvenience caused to customers and emphasized the significance of protecting customer and employee information, the media statement did not directly address the possibility of a data breach.
Eagers Automotive Cyberattack is Yet to be Claimed
As of now, no prominent ransomware groups have claimed responsibility for the Eagers Automotive Cyberattack.
However, it is worth noting that Eagers Automotive cybersecurity incident follows the Yakult cyber attack that took place earlier this month. This incident involved the leak of approximately 95GB of data, allegedly stolen by a newly identified ransomware group called DragonForce.
Additionally, Nissan Australia disclosed a cyberattack in early December, which is currently being actively addressed and investigated. The attack has been attributed to the Akira ransomware gang.
