Japan’s GMO Says Hacker Threatens To Disclose Customer Data At Noon

TOKYO, Oct 27 (NNN-Kyodo) -- Japanese internet service provider GMO Internet Group Inc. said late Monday that a hacker claiming to have gained unauthorised access to its foreign exchange trading service had threatened to disclose customer information and launch a ransomware attack at noon, Kyodo News reported.

Japan's finance minister Satsuki Katayama said the government was urging financial institutions to defend against potential cyberattacks, noting that several foreign exchange trading firms using GMO's server service, such as OANDA Japan Inc., had been affected.

With the noon deadline approaching, GMO called on users to back up their data and unplug their computers.

On Monday, GMO began analysing the devices of customers who had agreed to cooperate with its investigation. The move is intended to assess the extent of the unauthorised access, including whether malware has been installed.

The company will notify service users individually by email once countermeasures are identified.

The unauthorised access targeted the Onamae.com Desktop Cloud service. An investigation following a customer enquiry confirmed on Oct 20 that an unauthorised program had been installed by a third party in the server environments of some customers.

GMO CEO Masatoshi Kumagai said on Monday in a blog post that the hacker was demanding US$50 million in cryptocurrency, which he said the firm would not pay.

In a press release issued the same day, the company reiterated that it would not comply with the attacker's demands, as it could not guarantee that the information would be deleted or that its misuse would be prevented.

According to Katayama, five foreign exchange trading firms, including Goldenway Japan Co. and Ava Trade Japan K.K., have reported to the Financial Services Agency that their customers had been affected by the GMO cyberattack.

"We cannot rule out the possibility of further unauthorised transactions, so we will respond with a sense of urgency," said Katayama, who also serves as financial services minister.

--NNN-KYODO