Data security in F1 Teams and Engine manufacturers

[mwillems]

I was reading through some old posts in a team thread and data security was briefly mentioned.

I was wondering if anyone had ever heard (or read) anything regarding the attempted theft of technology via hacking means? Given the nefarious means that teams have used to gain data and advantage in the past, it wouldn't surprise me if this had happened on some scale. After all, the only real rule in F1 is, don't get caught...

[DarkSurferZA]

Maybe it's easier to just hire their mechanics and ask them to print all the docs and bring it with to your HQ (no relation to the McLaren incident).

That's why it's best to take the path of least resistance. Targetted attacks are not the same as spray and pray efforts, so hacking can be quite a time consuming task, and in the fog of war, you never know which action may trip an alarm. In relation to the McLaren efforts, this can be quite costly and very damaging to a brand if you're ever tied back to an incident.

That being said, ransomware is a major concern for race teams as they tend to have a lot of data in transit/processing which isn't necessarily backed up (replicated) just yet. So even if it is a file on a server, an infected end point can still screw up the file on the share if the user has access. This has happened to a NASCAR team before if I recall correctly.

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[mwillems]

Those aren't the only possibilities though. I just wonder if they have ever been targeted by groups that wish to sell on the information. There is an awful lot of data transmitted between track and base, telemetry etc. I also wonder about the possibilities of tech enabled fans targeting a rival.

If it hasn't happened yet, surely it is a matter of time before someone publicly acknowledges electronic attacks of some sort. Even just the emails could contain very sensitive data. The whole world seems susceptible to electronic attacks, are F1 teams really immune, particularly given how advanced the tech is?