News: APE UPDATE 1-Australia's Eagers Automotive finds unauthorized access to parts of IT systems

(Adds company statement, details)

Jan 2 (Reuters) - Australia's Eagers Automotive (APE) on Tuesday said an investigation found that a cyber incident last week that resulted in an outage involved unauthorized access to parts of the company's information technology (IT) systems by a third party that accessed data from its servers.

"Based on investigations to-date, the company is in the process of notifying a small number of individuals identified who may face serious risk of data misuse," the automotive retailer said in a statement.

The company did not reveal the exact number of individuals whose data was directly compromised as a result of the cyber incident.

Australian corporations have seen an alarming rise in cyber security breaches since last year, prompting the country's government to reform cyber security rules. Australia set up an agency in February this year to oversee government investment and help coordinate responses to hacker attacks.

Last week, Eagers flagged a cyber incident that hit some of its IT systems, affecting the company's ability to finalise transactions for certain new vehicles that were sold and ready for delivery.

The impact of cyber incident, however, is not expected to be material for the 2023 financial year, it added.