TOKYO, Mar 29 (News On Japan) - LINE Corporation, in response to a major data breach affecting its users, has decided to reconsider its business outsourcing to the Korean company responsible for the leak.
The Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which administered guidance to the company this month, had requested a review of the relationship between the two companies.
The breach is believed to have compromised approximately 519,000 users' data. The Ministry criticized LINE Corporation for inadequate oversight and management of the Korean IT company, Naver, which was targeted by a cyberattack that led to the leak.
Although the Ministry has set April 1 as the deadline for a report on measures to prevent recurrence, sources indicate that LINE Corporation has resolved to review its outsourcing of IT infrastructure-related tasks to Naver.
The company plans to proceed with a phased reduction in the scope of its outsourced work to Naver, while assessing the impact on LINE's services and its users.
Naver has maintained a relationship with LINE Corporation since it provided technical support at the launch of the LINE service in 2011, as the parent company of the operator at that time.
The Ministry has also urged a review of the current capital relationship, where Naver holds a 50% stake in LINE Corporation. In conjunction with SoftBank, which also holds a 50% stake, the company is moving forward with discussions with Naver on this matter.
Source: NHK
