TOKYO - GMO Internet Group President Masatoshi Kumagai apologized at his first press conference following a cyberattack on the company's investor-oriented cloud service, acknowledging that security vulnerabilities had been identified by specialists within the group two years earlier but that the warnings had not been adequately addressed.
"We sincerely apologize to all customers and related parties who have suffered damage," Kumagai said. "Our group's Onamae.com Desktop Cloud service was subjected to unauthorized access, resulting in the leakage of customer information and, ultimately, the loss of customer assets through malicious activity."
The company confirmed the cyberattack on October 20, when unauthorized access was discovered involving a service used by investors. The incident escalated last week when hackers publicly released personal information believed to belong to one of the service's users, raising concerns about the extent of the breach and the potential for further damage.
During the press conference, Kumagai acknowledged that the affected system had security weaknesses and revealed that specialists at GMO Cybersecurity by Ierae, a cybersecurity company within the same corporate group, had identified problems approximately two years earlier.
"It is true that there were security problems with this service's system," Kumagai said. "It is also true, as has been reported, that experts at our group's GMO Cybersecurity by Ierae had pointed out issues with the system."
Kumagai admitted that the company had failed to incorporate those warnings into the management and operation of the service.
"We were unable to make use of the issues identified within our own group in operating the service," he said, apologizing for the company's failure to take appropriate preventive action.
The admission raises questions about GMO's internal risk management and the effectiveness of communication between its cybersecurity specialists and the business divisions responsible for operating customer services.
GMO Internet Group operates a wide range of internet infrastructure, domain registration, financial technology and cybersecurity businesses. The affected Onamae.com Desktop Cloud service provides cloud-based desktop computing environments, including systems used by investors for financial trading.
The attack has attracted particular attention because the compromise of an investor-oriented service can expose customers not only to the theft of personal information but also to potential financial losses if attackers obtain access to trading environments or other sensitive account information.
Meanwhile, a senior GMO executive told JNN on the morning of November 2 that investigators had uncovered various leads concerning the unauthorized access.
"Various clues are emerging," the executive said.
Investigators are examining several possibilities, including the potential involvement of a North Korean-linked hacking group. However, no definitive attribution has been announced, and the identity of those responsible remains under investigation.
The possibility of North Korean involvement has added an international security dimension to the incident, particularly given the history of cyberattacks attributed to North Korean groups targeting financial institutions, cryptocurrency businesses and other organizations handling valuable financial assets.
The disclosure that security concerns had been raised internally two years before the attack is also likely to intensify scrutiny of GMO's corporate governance and the steps taken to protect customer information and financial assets.
The press conference was continuing at the time of the report, with attention focused on how much the company would disclose about the evidence collected during its investigation, the circumstances that allowed the security weaknesses to remain unresolved, and the measures being taken to prevent further damage.
Source: TBS
