Startup Says Attacks on Its Systems Came From a Rival's IP Address

Automotive tech startup IQ.Lvbs says its systems were targeted by people trying to steal its driving model, NovaSpark. In a blog post, the company claims that from October 7 to 14 it faced repeated attempts to steal the model, access users' devices and private driving files, and exploit its sign-in system. It says the first requests came from an IP address assigned to rival Comma.ai Inc.

NovaSpark entered private beta on October 3 in the Comma.ai Discord channel, because it relies on Comma.ai's camera hardware. On October 8, shortly after the alleged attacks began, IQ.Lvbs' team was banned from that channel, and some of its beta testers were reportedly banned from IQ.Lvbs' own Discord channel. A Discord message attributed to Comma.ai's CTO suggests NovaSpark was built from Comma.ai's Rebellious Hope model. IQ.Lvbs disputes this and says it did the work independently.

These are claims from one side of a dispute, and an IP address alone does not prove who was behind an attack. Even so, the case shows how a small business sharing early products on a partner's or competitor's platform can face risks to its intellectual property, customer data and login systems.