The Executive branch is gathering information to assess the scope of the cyberattacks.
Tokyo.- Multiple companies and a university in Japan have been hit in recent days by a series of cyberattacks, leaks, and ransomware attacks that potentially affect millions of people in the archipelago, with new cases being reported this Tuesday amid concern from the Government.
Mr Max Holdings, a major Japanese business group that operates a chain of discount stores, acknowledged in a statement this Tuesday that data from nearly 1.7 million customers may have been leaked, exposing names, email addresses, and phone numbers.
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The company claimed to have detected “suspicious access” to its database last Saturday, after which it suspended its platform’s services while investigating what happened together with external specialists and the Police.
The watch brand Citizen Watch reported for its part a data breach of 100,000 customers, possibly including credit card and bank account information, and Osaka Metropolitan University stated it is investigating a “massive ransomware” attack that took place last Friday, without indicating how many people could have been affected.
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The cases reported today are the most recent in a series of separate attacks, although characterized by having taken place at the end of last week, the largest of which affects the Yakiniku King restaurant chain.
The operator of the grilled meat chain, Monogatari Corporation, reported in a statement that more than 10.7 million registered users on its application may have been compromised, after detecting unauthorized access last Friday. The leaked data includes email addresses and phone numbers.
The investment group Daiwa Securities, with data from about 110,000 clients, the 6.6 million users of the car-sharing service Times Car, and the 948,000 reported by the online research company GMO Research & AI complete the list of affected companies.
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Government investigates cyberattacks
The main spokesperson for the Japanese Government, Minoru Kihara, stated this Tuesday in a press conference that the authorities take cyberattacks “very seriously,” and added that the Executive is gathering information to assess the scope of the cyberattacks.
At the moment, the archipelago’s authorities have not provided further details regarding this wave of data leaks.
Japan has been affected by numerous cyberattacks recently, which last July caused disruptions in food sector companies such as Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), by affecting one of the main producers of frozen foods.
In September of last year, the beverage company Asahi was forced to stop the distribution of its products and manage its orders manually for months, also generating a significant shortage of alcoholic beverages.
These cyberattacks in the archipelago are taking place in parallel with a similar series in neighboring South Korea, where the police opened an investigation this Tuesday. Several financial companies, including the country’s main banks, have been affected by a series of incidents that, according to authorities, could have been carried out using artificial intelligence (AI).
