Japan’s National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity (NISC) discloses potential compromise of personal data linked to email exchanges.
Reportedly, suspected Chinese hackers breached Japan’s cybersecurity agency and accessed sensitive data for nine months before discovery. In August, Japan’s National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity (NISC) revealed a potential compromise of personal data tied to email exchanges due to an October breach the previous year.
While NISC has not publicly attributed the breach, insider sources from government and private sectors, cited in a Financial Times article, suggest state-affiliated Chinese hackers are the likely culprits.
This follows a recent Washington Post report that Chinese military hackers breached Japan’s defense networks in 2020, seen as a major intrusion impacting intelligence-sharing between Japan’s defense forces and the Pentagon, as Japan aims to bolster partnerships amid rising Pacific tensions.
The Financial Times report also implies China’s responsibility for another attack on Japan’s Nagoya port earlier this year. Although initially blamed on the LockBit ransomware group, “government cyber experts” now view it as China’s ongoing effort to test Japan’s defenses, not a conventional ransomware incident.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied involvement, instead blaming the United States, aligning with recent Beijing statements to reveal U.S. cyber espionage, amid criticism of China’s own “reckless” hacking pursuits.
