A spate of unauthorized access incidents has exposed information leaks at companies and government agencies, raising the possibility of attacks exploiting AI. Damage has also been confirmed in a Digital Agency-operated system, prompting concerns about delays in countermeasures.
Information leak incidents caused by unauthorized access have occurred in succession, with reports of leaks from government-affiliated systems as well as the leakage of personal information from companies. Experts are on alert for new methods using AI and are calling for basic measures to be implemented promptly.
Daiwa Securities disclosed that an external service provider’s server had been subject to unauthorized access, potentially resulting in the leakage of approximately 220,000 records of personal information, including names and email addresses. The company explained that the leaked information alone would not directly enable unauthorized use of accounts.
At Nichirei, a major frozen-food company whose systems were subject to unauthorized access in July, it was found that more than approximately 53,000 records of personal information had leaked. System disruptions also caused confusion in product shipments.
In September, among government agencies, the Digital Agency disclosed the leakage of approximately 246,000 records, including the names, telephone numbers and email addresses of national government employees, from a system it operates. Information leaks have also been confirmed at other companies, including Seicomart and Tokyo Metro.
It has been reported that approximately 1.6 million driver’s license images leaked from Times Car, heightening vigilance over new methods of discovering vulnerabilities using AI.