Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. News

More than 4 million Honda and Acura owners e-mail addresses stolen

Ian Bell
By

Honda has posted an online warning and sent an email to 2.2 million customers informing them that a database containing their e-mail addresses, VINs and login information had been stolen. In addition 2.7 million Acura customers had their emails only stolen.

The storage of the email databases was contracted by Honda and its luxury brand Acura to a third party. The party was responsible for sending “welcome” emails to new purchasers who had opted to open a OwnerLink or MyAcura accounts.

Recommended Videos

Several sites (ZDNet and All Things Digital) suggested that the email contractor might be Silverpop Systems, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia who recently was hacked and had email databases of McDonald’s and Walgreens customers stolen. However, these sites were unable to definitively link Silverpop with Honda/Acura.

Related

We, however, found a press release from September 2009 on Silverpop’s site which confirmed Honda as a “premium partner”. The press release describes an award given by Honda to the company, writing:

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. President and CEO Tetsuo Iwamura today presented the company’s Premier Partner Award to Silverpop CEO Bill Nussey. The company was recognized for excellence in supporting Honda’s email marketing efforts. Silverpop was one of 15 award recipients selected from 46 suppliers nominated by American Honda associates nationwide.

Silverpop® is the world’s only provider of both email marketing and marketing automation solutions specifically tailored to the unique needs of B2C and B2B marketers.

“This recognition is a huge honor for us,” Nussey said. “Honda, like most of our clients, has a very sophisticated online marketing program, and relies on the innovation and expertise that Silverpop delivers to fully engage with customers. They set their expectations of vendor partners high, and we’re proud to have exceeded them.”

So that seems like pretty definitive proof to us. It appears that yet another victim of the Silverpop breach has emerged. And unlike McDonald’s and Walgreens, Honda appears actually to have lost actual user passwords. It is unknown what kind of encryption scheme Silverpop was using, or whether it salted its passwords. However, if you bought a Honda and created an account in the recent past, you probably want to change the passwords on any accounts using the same password as your Honda account.

And as we stated with the previous leaks, beware spam and phishing schemes. The hackers likely had a motive when stealing this information, and that motive may simply have been to amass a large roll of emails to attack via message fraud.

*Update 1/2/2011 – Honda has removed the message from their website, however registered Honda/Acura owners have confirmed that an email warning was sent out to owners notifying them of the security warning.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Ian Bell
Ian Bell
Publisher
I work with the best people in the world and get paid to play with gadgets. What's not to like?
Best electric car charger deals: $100 off home charging stations
The handle of the Grizzl-E EV charger plugged into a vehicle.

A few years ago, electric vehicles were pretty rare or cost a fortune, but with more and more of the larger car brands getting into the game, there are a lot of excellent and even budget-friendly choices nowadays. That said, the electrical network for charging your cars might not be that widespread, so instead you'll have to rely on charging your car at home. Luckily, there are a lot of excellent car chargers at a discount, so if you've just bought an EV or want to upgrade your current charging solution, be sure to check out our favorite deals below.
Shockflo EV charger — $205, was $220

This EV charger by Shockflo is a Level 2 EV charger, which offers six times faster charging than a standard charger. It delivers 24 miles with just one hour of charging, and it can act as a mobile charger you can throw in the trunk or be mounted to a wall. It has an LCD display with useful information like charging rate, voltage, and charging time, as well as LED indicator lights that lets you know charging progress and errors.

Read more
Mercedes-Benz EQG: range, price, release date, and more
Concept image of the larger electric G-Wagon

The G-Class is going electric. We already knew that Mercedes-Benz was working on an electric, small-size G-Wagon, but it looks like the company is also working on a larger G-Class SUV, in the form of the EQG. In fact, Mercedes has gone as far as to show off a concept version of the off-roader.

While there's much we don't know about what will become the production model of the EQG, Mercedes has also shared a lot about it. Curious about whether the Mercedes-Benz EQG could be the EV for you? Here's everything we know so far.
Design
Fear not -- the EQG will retain many of the design aspects of the G-Class that you already know and love but with a modern face-lift. The EQG will keep the boxy design that gives the G-Class a classic look but with some additional modern styling, at least if the concept version is anything to go by.

Read more
Rivian R2 vs. Kia EV9: battle of affordable electric SUVs
Kia EV9 GT-Line Three Quarters

The long-awaited Rivian R2 has finally been announced, and it's an excellent option for those who want an electric SUV that doesn't completely break the bank. Sure, the R2 isn't cheap -- but it's a whole lot cheaper than most other EVs out there, especially when it comes to SUVs. But Rivian isn't the only company trying to tackle the problem of the budget electric SUV. The Kia EV9 is finally available, and it too offers a modern design and a range of helpful features.

Given the fact that the Rivian R2 and Kia EV9 are two electric SUVs in a similar price range, you might be wondering which is better for your needs. That's why we put the Rivian R2 and the Kia EV9 head-to-head.
Design
Both the Rivian R2 and the Kia EV9 are actual SUVs -- not crossovers pretending to be SUVs, like plenty of other EVs out there. The two vehicles offer big, boxy designs and plenty of interior space, making them excellent options for families or those who need that extra storage.

Read more