Japan Under A Cyber Attack

It has been reported that corporate and National Security of Japan has been compromised by several cyber attacks and has left sensitive information exposed for about a month. It has been reported that a server located in China was used to hack into Japanese Lower House which resulted in information like email addresses and documents belonging to the chamber's 480 legislators being leaked. It is not clear yet whether passwords and user IDs were stolen too.


Military aircraft and nuclear power plants data may have been stolen too as a result of the cyber attack Mitsubishi Heavy, the Japanese Defense contractor. Mitsubishi Heavy suspects that 83 computers were hacked into in 11 facilities but information regarding leakage of product and technology details wasn't confirmed.

Christophe Bianco, European general manager has stated that:

If this information has indeed been lost it shows that, even for companies acting in sensitive markets where the level of security is normally at the top level, it is difficult for them to protect themselves. This gives perspective on the challenge currently faced by other private sector organisations that interact with the general public.Lawmakers and parliamentary staff have been directed to change their network IDs and passwords, over fears that security had been breached. It is feared that politicians' computers and a lower house server has contracted a "Trojan horse" virus containing a programme that was used to passwords and other information. The virus was contracted when an unnamed politician opened an email attachment sent to him which he did not report until late August.

It is being said that if criminal acts are suspected then proper steps would be taken to guarantee the safety of Japan and its people.