Major US car rental breach exposes hundreds of thousands

Attackers roamed the systems of Avis Car Rental, a major car rental service provider, for several days, accessing data of nearly 300,000 individuals.

Malicious actors breached Avis systems on August 3rd and roamed inside the system for three days until the company secured its networks.

The company’s data breach notification letter, submitted to the Maine Attorney General’s Office, states that Avis discovered the breach on August 5th, indicating it took at least one day to kick the malicious actors out.

Avis Car Rental is America’s third-largest car rental company with a significant global presence. The company operates in over 160 countries and has over 5,500 locations worldwide. Its 2022 revenue stood at $12 billion.

The company’s letter did not reveal what type of customer data was exposed, only indicating that the cybercriminals may have accessed customer names and other information. However, the company said, “It is always a good idea to remain vigilant against threats of identity theft or fraud.”

“You can do this by regularly reviewing and monitoring your account statements and credit history for any signs of unauthorized transactions or activity. You can contact the credit reporting agencies if you suspect any unauthorized activity.”

According to the information the company submitted to the authorities, 299,006 were exposed in the breach.

The car rental will provide impacted individuals with a one-year membership to identity protection services, free of charge for those impacted by the data breach.