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Hackers steal research data from Sweden’s Volvo Cars

Swedish manufacturer Volvo Cars said Friday that hackers had stolen research and development data from its systems in a cyberattack.

Published: 11 December 2021 12:06 CET
Finished cars wait to be transported at Swedish auto maker Volvo Cars's Torslanda production plant in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Finished cars wait to be transported at Swedish auto maker Volvo Cars's Torslanda production plant in Gothenburg, Sweden. Investigations into the cyberattack so far show that the firm's R&D data, not customer data, has been affected. Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP

The company, owned by China’s Geely, “has become aware that one of its file repositories has been illegally accessed by a third party,” it said.

“Investigations so far confirm that a limited amount of the company’s R&D property has been stolen during the intrusion,” Volvo added.

It warned that “there may be an impact on the company’s operation” from the hack, sending its stock falling 3.5 percent in Stockholm, to 72.44 kronor ($8.00, 7.06 euros).

But the company added there was likely no “impact on the safety or security of its customers’ cars or their personal data”.

Gothenburg-based Volvo is currently pumping cash into electrifying its entire range by 2030.

A spokesman told AFP that the company had not been hit by ransomware and remained in full control of its data.

He added that a “third party” had contacted Volvo “recently” about the information theft, without giving any details about the exchange.

Volvo Cars separated from truck manufacturer Volvo Group in 1999, before being bought by Geely in 2010.

Member comments

  1. If Geely own Volvo then the headline should read “Hackers steal research data from China’s Volvo Cars. You can’t sell your car and then when you see it in the street say “That’s my car”..

    1. I politely request that you proofread and correct this otherwise dumb comment because it’s not understandable.

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CRIME

Sweden’s ‘snippa’ rape case to go to the High Court

When Sweden's appeals court threw out a guilty verdict in a child rape case over the meaning of 'snippa', a child's word for a vagina, it caused a scandal in Sweden. Now, the Swedish Supreme Court wants to hear from the Court of Appeals about its decision.  

Published: 24 March 2023 14:57 CET
Sweden's 'snippa' rape case to go to the High Court

Attorney General Petra Lundh criticised the appeals court for “a number of serious miscarriages of justice” in the way it dealt with the case. 

The man had been sentenced to three years imprisonment in 2021 after the district court heard how he, in the prosecutor’s words, had “by sticking his hand inside the plaintiff’s shorts and underwear, holding his hand on the the girl’s ‘snippa’ and having a finger inside her ‘snippa’, performed a sexual act” on her. 

The girl’s testimony was found to be credible, in part because she had told her mother about the incident on their way home.

But in February this year, the appeals court threw out the conviction, arguing that it was unclear what the girl means by the word snippa, a word taught to Swedish children to refer to female genitalia.

Despite agreeing with the district court that the man had touched the girl between her legs and inserted his finger into her snippa, the court found that it could not be determined whether the girl was referring to her vulva or to her vagina.

If the man had inserted his finger into her vagina, that would have met the standard to be classified as rape. Because the girl said that his finger was “far in”, but could not state exactly how far, the appeals court found that it could not establish beyond doubt that the man had inserted his finger in her vagina and not her the vulva.

Because no lower-grade charges, such as sexual abuse or molestation, had been filed against the man, the appeals court could not consider other offences.

This week, the Attorney General lodged a complaint with the Supreme Court against the appeal court’s decision. Now the Swedish Supreme Court has given the appeals court until April 12 to explain its decision-making in the case.

The Supreme Court has not decided whether it will hear an appeal against the decision to clear the man of rape charges.

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