Fujitsu confirms cyberattack, fears possible data breach

[TechRadar]

Late last week, Japanese technology behemoth Fujitsu reported suffering a cyberattack in which sensitive personal and customer information was stolen. 

In a press release published on Fujitsu’s website on Friday (and machine-translated from Japanese), the company said it spotted malware on “multiple work computers”, forcing the organization to disconnect the compromised endpoints. 

Following an internal investigation, the company discovered that “files containing personal information and customer information could be legally taken out”.

No evidence of misuse

Unfortunately, Fujitsu’s announcement was short and lacked crucial information. TechRadar Pro have reached out with additional questions and will update the article accordingly.

So far, the company did not say what files were taken, so there is no indication that they include payment data, phone numbers, social security numbers, or other sensitive information that could be used in identity theft and similar fraudulent activities. 

While Fujitsu said that both “personal and customer” information was taken, it is unconfirmed if the files belong to employees (either current, or former), business partners, or someone else entirely. There is also no information on exactly how many people were affected by the breach.

Finally, Fujitsu is yet to reveal if this was a ransomware attack or a simple data grab, or who the perpetrators were. Ransomware groups usually demand payment in exchange for keeping the data private, so it is possible that the attackers are asking for millions in cryptocurrencies.  

What has been confirmed is that Fujitsu reported the incident to the Personal Information Protection Commission (Japanese data watchdog), and that it is investigating if the data popped up anywhere on the (dark) web. So far, there is no evidence of data misuse, the company confirmed. 

“We deeply apologize for the great concern and inconvenience this has caused to everyone involved,” the press release concludes.

According to 2021 data, Fujitsu is the world’s sixth largest IT services provider by annual revenue, and the largest one in Japan.

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