Up to 100,000 Australian customers affected by Nissan cyberattack

Three months after Nissan Australia's computer systems were hacked, the company has begun contacting up to 100,000 customers who are believed to have had their personal information compromised.

Nissan today released a statement confirming approximately 100,000 individuals have had their personal information taken in the cyberattack – most of whom were attached to the company's financial services arm, which is marketed under Nissan, Mitsubishi, Renault, Skyline, Infiniti, LDV, and Ram brands.

However, the company believes the 100,000 number is "likely to reduce as contact details are validated and duplicated names are removed from the list".

Of those affected, it's believed up to 10,000 people have had their government identifications jeopardised, with approximately 7500 drivers' licences, 4000 Medicare cards, 1300 tax file numbers, and 220 passports now compromised.

The remaining 90 per cent are said to have had their personal loan-related information accessed, which includes bank statements, payslips, and other details such as dates of birth.

In January 2024, personal information from Nissan's customers was published on the internet.

"We know this will be difficult news for people to receive, and we sincerely apologise to our community for any concerns or distress it may cause," Nissan said in a written statement.

Nissan Australia has provided affected customers with free access to IDCARE – an identity and cybercrime support service – as well as free access to Equifax credit monitoring services for 12 months.

Nissan has established a customer support line on 1800 958 000, and will reimburse the cost of replacing government identity documents.

Servicing and repairs at Nissan dealerships are also back to normal, after the cyberattack crippled their IT systems – preventing mechanics from being able to access recall/repair information at the time, and stopping them from being able to order genuine parts from Nissan's warehouse.

A spokesperson for the car maker told Drive they believe the data taken in the cyberattack only applies to customers from the "last few years", with the majority associated with Nissan's financial services arm.

"We understand the worry and anxiety that can arise when someone is told their personal information might be in the public domain," Nissan Financial Services Managing Director Andrew Maeer said in a statement.

"That’s why it is important for us to gather enough information about the data breach so that we can understand the risks to people and provide them with the relevant advice and support.

"We are very sorry this has happened, and we sincerely apologise to all our customers, dealers and staff," he said.

"Moving forward, we are fully committed to learning from this incident and implementing the necessary improvements to minimise the risk of similar occurrences in future."

The company is encouraging customers to take the following steps in the wake of the incident:

Affected Nissan customers can contact the support line between 7:00am and 7:00pm AEDT on weekdays by calling 1800 958 000.