A series of unauthorized access incidents involving Nikkei-related organizations may have resulted in the leakage of information on 1,646 people through unauthorized logins to Google Workspace accounts, while approximately 9,000 impersonation emails were sent from Microsoft 365 accounts.
Nikkei Inc. announced on 4 October that external parties had made unauthorized logins to employees’ Google Workspace accounts, which they used for work, from late July onward. The information concerned the names and email addresses of 1,646 people, including employees and business partners, and may have been leaked.
The incident was discovered after Google notified the company in early August. Nikkei Inc. changed the passwords, and no further unauthorized logins have been confirmed. The information did not include details concerning readers or interview sources, and no secondary damage has been confirmed.
Microsoft 365 accounts were also targeted in a cyberattack. On 30 September, approximately 9,000 impersonation emails directing recipients to malicious websites were sent to people within the company and interview sources. The names and email addresses of recipients, as well as the contents of some emails, may have been leaked.
Nikkei BP announced on 4 October that its employees’ email accounts had been accessed without authorization. The employees’ authentication information was reportedly obtained through their Nikkei Inc. email addresses, and the names and email addresses of 26 people among the senders and recipients of emails may have been leaked.