Nissan Motor Company has announced that its network was recently hacked and the attackers are believed to have been after intellectual property for the company’s electric vehicle drivetrain system.
Nissan disclosed in a statement released Tuesday from Executive Vice President Andy Palmer that it discovered the breach on Apr. 13 and found malware that had been placed on the network that would have allowed the intruders to steal employee user account credentials.
Palmer said that the company did not believe any customer or other employee or program data was compromised.
“However, we believe that user IDs and hashed passwords were transmitted,” Palmer wrote in a statement. “We have no indication that any personal information and emails have been compromised.”
The EV drivetrain is part of the Japanese company’s all-electric LEAF vehicle, which was introduced at the end of 2010.
Photo of Nissan LEAF courtesy of Nissan