Hackers claim responsibility for stealing sensitive corporate information from Denso

A group of cybercriminals that calls itself Pandora has claimed responsibility for the theft of sensitive corporate information from Denso, a major Toyota Motor Corp. parts supplier,r and is threatening to divulge the information online on March 16.

Officials at Denso Corp. confirmed that the company had suffered a ransomware attack on its business hub in Germany, which oversees sales, design, and development of automotive parts, last week.

Pandora’s statement claiming responsibility for the attack was published on the dark web, which requires the use of specific software to be accessed.

According to Pandora, it was able to steal 1.4 terabytes of data, consisting of over 157,000 pieces of information, including purchase orders and technical drawings.

Denso, who is in the middle of its investigation into what kind of information was stolen, declined to confirm whether the culprit is demanding a ransom, but it has reported the incident to German law enforcement authorities.

On March 10, Denso was alerted of the cyberattack when employees detected computer system glitches.

Denso said it is not aware of any damage to its sales order-management processes, which are carried out at a separate office, adding that sales activities have not been disrupted by the attack.

This Denso cyberattack in Germany was preceded by one against its operations in Mexico in December when hackers gained unauthorized access to its computer system and obtained personal information about its employees.

Kojima Press Industry Co., also a parts supplier in Aichi Prefecture, suffered a system failure from a cyberattack in late February, forcing all Toyota factories in Japan to be shut down on March 1.