The company investigated the report and say there was no breach of its system or leak of personal customer data.
Ford has dismissed reports that hackers breached its computer systems and exposed the data of thousands of customers. Stories of a successful attack began appearing on Sunday after someone with the handle @Energy WeaponUser posted on the BreachForums website claiming they had accessed the personal information of more than 44,000 Ford customers.
The alleged leak reportedly included names, locations, and details about the Ford products these customers purchased.
Related: 15,000 Dealerships Sent Back To Stone Age After CDK Cyberattack
Cyber Insider says the poster was offering other forum users the chance to access all of the data for eight credits, which for those of us not familiar with the finer points of hacking is tantamount to "giving it away for free" in CI's words. The report says the small fee being asked for access to the records indicates that the hacker's goal was merely to hurt Ford's image and public standing rather than make a stack of cash.
But Ford denied that it had experienced any kind of breach and moved to reassure owners that their information was safe.
"Ford's investigation has determined that there was no breach of Ford's systems or customer data," a spokesperson told Carscoops. "The matter involved a third-party supplier and a small batch of publicly available dealers' business addresses. It is our understanding that the matter has now been resolved."
Mazda Vulnerability Downplayed
Ford is the second automaker whose vulnerabilities have been questioned this month. Last week we wrote how security experts found Mazda's Connect infotainment system could be exposed to malware, potentially allowing the car's safety systems to be compromised, though hackers would need access to the car's USB port.
Mazda got back to us, saying it didn't have a specific fix right now, but believes customers shouldn't be unduly worried. Here's what the company told Carscoops:
"Mazda is aware of the vulnerabilities that are described in some articles. Although Mazda refrains from responding to specific measures and details, Mazda is continuing to develop technologies and implement countermeasures to remedy the vulnerabilities in the system in order to protect customer safety and assets. We refrain from responding to specifics about countermeasures.
It's worth noting that an attack against this vulnerability requires a vehicle key (key FOB / remote transmitter), and in addition, this attack cannot be performed remotely. Therefore, we think the possibility of exploitation to be extremely low.
We apologize for any inconvenience and concern caused to our customers by this."