Description

Customers of Renault and its subsidiary Dacia in the United Kingdom have been informed that their personal data was compromised after a cyberattack on one of the carmaker’s third-party providers. The French automaker, which generates over $55 billion in annual revenue, employs 170,000 people and produces more than 2.2 million vehicles each year, said that the incident occurred outside its own systems but still impacted some UK clients. In a notice, Renault expressed regret for the breach and explained that attackers had exfiltrated customer information from the third-party’s systems. The exposed data includes sensitive personal details such as names, gender, phone numbers, email addresses, postal addresses, as well as vehicle-specific information like VIN (vehicle identification number) and registration number. Although Renault confirmed that financial or banking information was not exposed, the stolen information could still be misused in phishing, scams, or other forms of social engineering against affected individuals. Customers were advised to stay alert for suspicious calls, emails, or requests for passwords and not to disclose sensitive information to unsolicited contacts. Renault further stated that the third-party supplier has since isolated the incident, removed the malicious threat, and notified the proper authorities, including the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). However, the company declined to reveal the name of the impacted supplier, citing contractual obligations, and said the number of affected clients is not yet known. The incident follows a separate cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover that disrupted operations and led to significant financial consequences, highlighting how cyberattacks on automotive firms and their supply chains can have broad operational and customer security implications.