General Motors already notifying employees about the breach.
Detroit’s Big Three automakers are the latest big companies to become victims of hackers, with a new report now claiming that employees’ names and social security numbers might have been exposed during a breach.
Details are very sketchy at the moment, and there is no confirmation from the involved companies, but according to the 7 Action News, General Motors is already notifying workers about the attack.
The company is “aware of fraudulent unemployment claims involving GM employees,” and names and Social Security Numbers are being used to file claims and collect.
General Motors has reportedly started sending out notifications to affected employees before December 31, but it’s not yet known how long they’ve been aware of the attack and how much data was compromised. The group behind the breach is not known either, as no hackers have claimed the attacks so far.
“We have been notified by the State of Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency than an Unemployment Compensation claim has been opened using your name and Social Security Number. General Motors has protested this claim with the State indicating that you were not on a layout,” the notification sent by the company to affected employees reads.
Chrysler and Ford hacked as well?
On the other hand, according to the same report, the other two large Detroit-based car manufacturers might have been breached as well. Ford and Chrysler remain tight-lipped for the time being, but General Motors is telling its employees that it was a large-scale attack that impacted the other two automakers as well.
For the moment, neither Chrysler nor Ford showed any post-hack activity, and employees haven’t received any notification that their data might have been exposed.
On the other hand, General Motors is working with employees on preventing misuse of their personal information, and the aforementioned source says that the firm has already contacted law enforcement to investigate the breach and is “working aggressively with the Michigan State Police’s cybercrime unit and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General on this issue.”
Affected employees are being told to complete Form 14039 from the IRS website and indicate that they were a victim of identity theft and that someone is using their personal information.
Working as a cyber security solutions architect, Alisa focuses on application and network security. Before joining us she held a cyber security researcher positions within a variety of cyber security start-ups. She also experience in different industry domains like finance, healthcare and consumer products.
