Continental Tire Factory Becomes Victim Of LockBit Hacker Attack, 40 Terabytes Of Data Stolen

JAKARTA – German prosecutors are investigating a cyberattack against tire and auto parts maker Continental. This statement was first reported by the German newspaper Handelsblatt on Tuesday, November 8 citing a spokesman who declined to go into further details.

Continental had also said on Monday, November 7 that a cyber attack reported last August had resulted in some data being stolen from the company.

A hacker group called LockBit has reportedly stolen 40 terabytes of data. The theft would be an enormous amount, as the complete outflow of data usually has to be stopped by technical security measures. In addition, according to a leak, the attacker is said to have extorted ransom from the German tire company.

According to media reports, the company basically confirmed the attack, but would not comment on details. "Continental has launched an investigation into the incident with the support of external cybersecurity experts," a spokesperson said, as quoted by spiegel.de.

Continental also learned in late August that its IT systems had been compromised. At that time it was said that the attack had been repelled. However, it is unknown whether Continental actually paid the ransom to the extortionists. In August, the company said it had no ransom demands for the stolen data

Hacker group LockBit also caused quite a stir last week. At that time, they announced that they had hacked the major French defense company, Thales Group. LockBit is one of the very active and dangerous ransomware gangs as mentioned by the German Federal Criminal Police Office.

In this hack, criminals encrypt their victim's data, rendering it unusable, but often making copies for themselves. They then demand large ransoms, often in the millions of euros from big companies, before releasing any more data.

German security authorities assume that many hackers, such as LockBit, operate from Russia. But so far the Russian side has denied the accusations.