Tokyo, Oct. 28 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department is investigating a cyberattack that recently hit Japan’s GMO Internet Inc. after being contacted by the company for consultations, investigative sources said Wednesday. The police examined the extent of damage from the cyberattack as part of the probe, according to the sources. The MPD is expected to conduct a more detailed investigation into the case, suspecting violation of the law prohibiting unauthorized computer access, among other charges. According to GMO and the sources, a server of the firm for foreign exchange margin trading cloud services suffered unauthorized access. The company began its investigation on Oct. 19 after receiving an inquiry from a user and discovered on Oct. 20 a malicious program planted by an unidentified party. All servers were shut down on Oct. 21. After receiving a threatening email, the company reported the incident to the MPD the following day. The MPD has received reports from multiple GMO customers about losses that they claim were caused by unauthorized transactions. GMO said Tuesday that the attacker disclosed personal information believed to belong to a customer. A person whose name and other details matched the disclosed information told reporters the same day that “most of (the content) is false.” The person denied using any server for the foreign exchange margin trading services. The police are working to find details partly through interviews with company officials. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
