Avis, a major car rental company, recently experienced a data breach that compromised the personal information of nearly 300,000 customers. The breach occurred between August 3 and August 6, 2024, when an unauthorized third party gained access to one of Avis’ business applications.
The company quickly cut off access, initiated an investigation with cybersecurity experts, and alerted authorities. The breach, linked to “insider wrongdoing,” raises concerns about internal security and third-party risks.
Based in New Jersey, Avis operates globally with over 11,000 locations in 180 countries. The company confirmed that customer data exposed in the breach could include names, mailing addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and credit card details.
However, it remains unclear whether a third-party contractor, vendor, or an internal employee was involved in the breach.
Avis responded by strengthening its security measures, enhancing monitoring controls, and working with cybersecurity experts to safeguard its systems. The company has notified affected customers and is offering a year of free credit monitoring and identity restoration services through Equifax. Avis advises customers to monitor financial statements and report suspicious activity immediately.
This incident is part of a broader trend where car rental companies are increasingly becoming targets for cyberattacks. In 2022, Sixt Rent-a-Car also suffered a significant breach, indicating growing risks for companies managing large amounts of sensitive customer data.
For affected customers, it is crucial to stay vigilant, monitor financial activity, use credit monitoring services, and be cautious of phishing attempts. The Avis breach underscores the need for robust cybersecurity measures and ongoing vigilance from both companies and consumers to protect against evolving cyber threats.
References:
https://bgr.com/tech/300000-users-of-a-top-car-rental-company-had-their-data-stolen/
https://www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/avis-car-rental-suffers-a-data-breach-impacting-nearly-300000-customers/
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Having an ongoing Incident response program help orgsnization to effectively handle security event. and complying with regulation reduce the risk of heavy financial levy in an event of a breach.
One of the examples of the weakest link of security that is human. Proper change management, training and experience can reduce such incidents. There may be monetary loss as well because of credit card information leaks.
This case relates to the increasing threat of cybercrimes to car rental firms, which calls for more robust internal security measures.
Personal data breach is always harmful for people especially when financial information like credit card or debit card are included. One can easily reach to the available money on the cards as no OTP or confirmation is required for purchasing through POS(point of sale) machine in malls or online purchasing. As a consequences, the companies who are dealing with customer’s personal data must be strength their security by security expert. On the same time, I think financial institute like banks should put some security layer on cards.
It is worth being particularly vigilant against phishing attempts in the case of breaches like this one. Cybercriminals often pose as government bodies or companies in order to profit from data leaks. Avis customers particularly should be extra vigilant as their contact information may have been leaked.
Hi Kamaldeep,
I enjoyed reading your post, specifically for the amount of detail you went into when addressing the company’s immediate response to the issue. After the attack, Avis immediately cut off access and launched an investigation. It was fascinating to see the risk management steps a company of this magnitude would take. Additionally, learning that Avis did not stop there but also began working on improved monitoring controls to prevent future breaches shows the company’s commitment to preventing further issues from occurring. Lastly, the company’s assistance to their customers was fascinating. After the breach occurred, Avis provided all their customers with one year of credit monitoring service. Although Avis’ reputation was affected significantly, the company addressed these issues and helped customers protect themselves.
While firewalls provide an essential layer of defense, companies like Avis must go beyond basic protections by implementing layered security strategies. This breach highlights the critical need for robust cybersecurity infrastructure, including the use of advanced Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS). These tools could help detect and block malicious activity early. Additionally, a well-prepared incident response plan is crucial to quickly contain breaches and minimize damage. It’s also important to ensure regular audits and regular employee cybersecurity training.
While firewalls provide an essential layer of defense, companies like Avis must go beyond basic protections by implementing layered security strategies. This breach highlights the critical need for robust cybersecurity infrastructure, including the use of advanced Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS). These tools could help detect and block malicious activity early. Additionally, a well-prepared incident response plan is crucial to quickly contain breaches and minimize damage. It’s also important to ensure regular audits and regular employee cybersecurity training.
While firewalls provide an essential layer of defense, companies like Avis must go beyond basic protections by implementing layered security strategies. This breach highlights the critical need for robust cybersecurity infrastructure, including the use of advanced Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS). These tools could help detect and block malicious activity early. Additionally, a well-prepared incident response plan is crucial to quickly contain breaches and minimize damage. It’s also important to ensure regular audits and regular employee cybersecurity training.
It a nice sharing cyber news. It interesting though that cyber attacks are not necessarily an external act. There are cyber attacks that caused by weak access controls as a vulnerability waiting for an exploitation. In a related reading a question is raised asking “Why Avis stored this sensitive customer information in a way that allowed it to be compromised?”, Zack Whittaker posted on TechCrunch.com.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/09/thousands-of-avis-car-rental-customers-had-personal-data-stolen-in-cyberattack/
It is a nice cyber attack news. I polishes an interesting thought where cyber attacks are not necessarily related to acts external only. There are cyber attacks that are caused by weakness in the access controls in internal systems as vulnerabilities are waiting for exploitations. In a related reading a question was raised by Zack Whittaker posted on TechCrunch.com, asking “Why Avis stored this sensitive customer information in a way that allowed it to be compromised?”. This implies to the need to assess internal controls and enhance the security posture of all internal systems and the privacy of the stored data.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/09/thousands-of-avis-car-rental-customers-had-personal-data-stolen-in-cyberattack/
I think having a multi-layer defense system is important because it can have various security systems that an attacker has to get over. In addition, evaluation of internal security plans as well risk assessments are quite important. This can help reduce risks stemming from within the organization.