Hackers hack into electric car manufacturer and demand ransom in bitcoin

Representatives of NIO, the largest electric car brand in China, have announced that their company has recently been subjected to a cyberattack. The attackers stole a customer database that contained names, emails, payment data, and other confidential information. In addition, hackers stole information about the company’s sales from August 2021 to December 2022. NIO’s management immediately began looking for a firm that would guarantee the company’s cybersecurity while the incident was being investigated.

Some time later, NIO received an anonymous email from the hackers, who said they were ready to return the database and not to distribute it anywhere. However, the cybercriminals put forward a condition — a $ 2.25 million ransom in BTC. If the company refuses to pay the full amount, the scammers promise to make the data public and leave it freely available.

In a statement, NIO said that the company has sought help from government agencies to investigate the incident and has taken steps to mitigate the potential damage from the hack. The electric car manufacturer has not commented on the situation.

Cryptocurrency experts emphasize that the number of hacker attacks involving cryptocurrencies is growing rapidly. At the same time, scammers are coming up with new ways of hacking, against which there are no effective cybersecurity solutions yet. Recently, we talked about hackers attacking digital asset owners on Telegram. The goal is to trick users into downloading malware on their phones and gaining access to the keys to victims' cryptocurrency wallets.

Analysts have no doubt that in the near future, hackers will start using artificial intelligence technologies to carry out cyberattacks. They are confident that Internet thieves will develop algorithms that will be able to find vulnerabilities on their own, bypass security systems, collect information from hacked devices, and steal cryptocurrency.