Japan internet giant GMO says hackers posted stolen customer data
techcrunch ·
Japanese internet giant GMO Internet is investigating a significant data breach involving its Onamae cloud desktop service, which supports virtualized environments for financial traders. The company confirmed that suspected hackers have published stolen customer and business data, prompting an urgent recommendation for users to reset their passwords due to reports of unauthorized trading account operations. Approximately 27,000 servers are believed to be affected by this incident, though the full extent of the damage remains under verification. The timeline reveals that GMO shut down the service on October 21 after discovering unauthorized access and subsequently received a ransom demand of roughly $50 million. This event follows closely on the heels of GMO's separate discovery that a Chinese AI-enabled tool named Artex was used in broader cyberattacks across Japan and South Korea. While GMO has not officially linked the Onamae breach to Artex, the regulator Japan’s Financial Service Agency has recently urged financial institutions to strengthen basic cybersecurity defenses against such vulnerabilities.
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