Hyundai Motor Europe said it is investigating a cyber security incident after the Notorious Black Basta ransomware group claimed that it infiltrated the company’s network and stole vast amounts of data.

Recently, BleepingComputer reported that Hyundai Motor Europe, Hyundai Motor Company’s European division, suffered a cyber security incident in January. Hyundai, however, said it did not experience a cyber security incident but was facing an IT outage.

“Hyundai Motor Europe is experiencing IT issues, which the company is working to resolve as quickly as possible. Trust and security are fundamental to Hyundai’s business and our priority is the protection of our customers, employees, investors, and partners,” Hyundai told BleepingComputer at the time.

After the publication shared more details about the data security incident with the company, Hyundai acknowledged that it indeed suffered a cyber security incident and was working towards resolving the issue.

In a statement shared with the media, a Hyundai spokesperson said, “Hyundai Motor Europe is investigating a case in which an unauthorised third party has accessed a limited part of the network of Hyundai Motor Europe.”

“Our investigations are ongoing, and we are working closely with external cyber security and legal experts. Relevant local authorities have also been notified. Trust and security are fundamental to our business, and our priority is the protection of our customers, employees, investors, and partners,” the spokesperson added.

While the automotive company is yet to share details about the nature of the cyber attack or whether any data was exfiltrated from its network, BleepingComputer revealed that the Black Basta ransomware group claimed to have stolen 3 terabytes of data from the company.

In an image seen by BleepingComputer, the threat actors shared a list of folders that were allegedly stolen from numerous Windows domains, including those from KIA Europe.

While the nature of the stolen data is not known, the folder names indicate that the data belongs to various departments at the company, including legal, sales, human resources, accounting, IT, and management.

In April last year, Hyundai Motor Company Italy also suffered a data breach that compromised the sensitive personal information of its customers in Italy and France.

The company then said that the threat actors who infiltrated its internal systems accessed customers’ email addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers, and vehicle chassis numbers. Hyundai clarified that threat actors were unable to gain access to financial data or identification numbers.

“Although there is no evidence that the data concerned have been used for fraudulent purposes, out of extreme caution, we invite you to pay particular attention and to verify any contact attempt via e-mail, mail and/or text message that may appear to come from Hyundai Italia or by other entities of the Hyundai Group. In particular, we recommend that you avoid pressing any link that may be contained in the contact attempt you may receive,” Hyundai Motor Company Italy told customers.