TENS of thousands of British motorists have been left at risk of identity theft and online fraud after a cyberattack at one of the country’s largest car dealerships.
Customers of Arnold Clark have had personal details- including national insurance and passport numbers – taken and posted online.
The company is based in Glasgow and employs more than 11,000 people nationwide. Its Scottish sites include several in Aberdeen.
The Times says today that an organised criminal group, known as Play, has claimed responsibility for the attack and is threatening to release more data unless the firm pays a ransom. It is believed to be demanding millions of pounds.
The stolen files include customers’ full names, dates of birth, home addresses, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, insurance certificates and copies of finance deals with the vehicle company.
Also included are bank statements and car registration numbers as well as chassis or engine numbers.
The haul lists private motorists and corporate customers, with company-wide schemes listing named drivers.
Philip Ingram, a cybercrime expert and former military intelligence officer, said: “There could be tens of thousands of people at much-greater risk of having their personal details used by criminals for identity theft and fraud.”
Arnold Clark said it could neither confirm nor deny that it had been the victim of a ransomware attack.
A spokesman said: “We are continuing our investigations into the incident on December 23.
“We take the security of customer data very seriously and accurate identification of any potential compromise of that data remains our primary focus.
“Once we have a full picture of all data potentially compromised, we plan to contact customers. We will continue to minimise any impact to customers and third-party partners.”
The spokesman said the company was liaising with the relevant regulatory authorities and the police.
“During this incident we did voluntarily disconnect our corporate network to protect our customers. This has inevitably resulted in some operational difficulties. Our IT security team are restoring a new segregated network in a secure environment,” he added.
“Our systems are not yet back to 100% functionality and we apologise for any inconvenience this may be causing customers.”
Detective Inspector Norman Stevenson, of Police Scotland’s cyber investigations unit, said: “Our inquiries are ongoing and we are working closely with the business.”
Play first came to prominence last July after government websites in Latin America were hacked.
