27 May 2022

Notification of data breach incident of third party supplier

We wish to inform customers of a data breach incident that occurred with our third-party supplier, Absolute Results. Absolute Results is a marketing agency used by the automotive retailing industry across North America, UK, Europe and Australia.

Our dealership was recently contacted by Absolute Results in relation to a cybersecurity incident. Absolute Results’ investigation found an unauthorised party accessed its on-premise server environment, spread malware, and accessed and copied certain files. Their investigation did not determine exactly which files were impacted, however as our dealership has used Absolute Results’ services, we wish to inform our sales and service customers that they may be impacted by this incident.

The types of personal information potentially impacted include, name, address, email address, phone number, vehicle description, VIN, sale date and last service date.

We do not consider there to be an immediate risk of harm, but cybercriminals are known to use personal information for phishing attacks or social engineering to trick you into giving them more of your information. To minimise these risks, we recommend that you change your email account password to a strong passphrase you have not used before and enable multi-factor authentication where possible. Do not open attachments or click on links in emails or social media messages if you are unsure if the sender is genuine. Take care on phone calls by not sharing your personal information until you are certain who you are speaking with.

For help on how to identify a scam and protect yourself go to www.scamwatch.gov.au or www.cyber.gov.au/acsc/individuals-and-families. If you believe that there has been any recent unknown activity or unexpected adverse impact on your credit history, you can contact any of the following organisations to obtain a credit history report:

 

Organisation          Website           Phone
illion Australia            https://www.creditcheck.illion.com.au/          1300 734 806
Experian Australia            https://www.experian.com.au/order-credit-report          1300 783 684
Equifax            https://www.equifax.com.au/personal/products          138 332

 

We take your privacy very seriously. Our business maintains a Data Breach Response Plan and Privacy Policy that is regularly reviewed. Our Privacy Policy is located at https://autosportsgroup.com.au/privacy/. We are reviewing our procedures on how we work with suppliers to minimise the likelihood of any similar occurrences in future. Similarly, Absolute Results has taken action to secure its environment and implement strict data deletion protocols. This incident was reported by us to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

Unfortunately, cybercrime is a regular occurrence impacting businesses and individuals globally. Whilst we are disappointed that this data breach has occurred, we believe that being open and transparent and working hand in hand with our customers and suppliers maintains trust as we work together to combat cybercrime.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us at privacy@autosportsgroup.com.au

Audi Centre Parramatta