A decade-long data breach at Toyota’s online service has compromised some information about more than two million vehicles, the Japanese automaker said Friday.
Toyota spokesman Hideaki Homma said that Toyota’s problem with the Connected cloud service only affects cars in Japan.
Connected reminds owners to receive service receipts, links to entertainment and emergency assistance.
They may also seek help after a collision or the location of a stolen vehicle.
No issues related to the breach have yet been reported.
While there is no evidence of any information being leaked, copied, or misused due to a hack, the data at risk includes: the vehicle identification number, which is separate from the license plate, the location of the vehicle, the time it has been in. , as well as a video filmed by the car as “Driving Recorder” in Japan.
Such information cannot be used to identify individual owners, according to Toyota Motor Co., which makes Prius hybrid cars and luxury Lexus models.
The cars of about 2.15 million people were affected, including those who used the network services G-Link, G-Book and Connected.
The Connected service in Japan is operated by a subsidiary.
Until recently, according to Homma, no one noticed that outside access to such information had to be stopped.
“We are very sorry for causing such concern to all people,” he added.
This issue is a major concern for Japan’s largest automaker, which has built a reputation for quality and attention to detail.
Global car manufacturers compete to diversify their model offerings with the latest technology to attract buyers.
Homma said the problem with the system had been fixed, explaining that it was safe to continue driving cars with connected services as normal and that there was no need to bring them in for repairs.
