Japan continues to investigate a cyberattack that hit this year Mitsubishi Electric Corp., it suspects a possible leak of data including details of a prototype missile.
Japan is still investigating a cyberattack that was disclosed by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. early this year.
In January, the company disclosed a security breach that might have exposed personal and confidential corporate data, at the time, it claimed that attackers did not obtain sensitive information about defense contracts.
Mitsubishi revealed that personal data on some 8,000 people also might have been leaked.
The breach was detected almost eight months ago, on June 28, 2019, with the delay being attributed to the increased complexity of the investigation caused by the attackers deleting activity logs.
The intrusion took place on June 28, 2019, and the company launched an investigation in September 2019. Mitsubishi Electric disclosed the security incident only after two local newspapers, the Asahi Shimbun and Nikkei, reported the security breach.
Mitsubishi Electric had also already notified members of the Japanese government and the Ministry of Defense.
Now, the authorities suspect a data leak that could have exposed details of a prototype missile.
“The suspected leak involves sensitive information about a prototype of a cutting-edge high speed gliding missile intended for deployment for the defense of Japan’s remote islands amid China’s military assertiveness in the region.” states the AP press agency.
“The ministry suspects the information might have been stolen from documents sent from several defense equipment makers as part of a bidding process for the project, Mitsubishi Electric did not win the bid, Japanese media reports said.”
The advanced prototype missile was designed to be deployed in Japan’s remote islands as a deterrence to military activities conducted by China in the area.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga announced that the Defense Ministry is investigating “the possible impact of the information leak on national security.”
The Defense Ministry was working on a prototype of supersonic missile known as HGV, a technology also being studied by the U.S., China, and Russia.
In January, the two media outlets attributed the cyber attack to a China-linked cyber espionage group tracked as Tick (aka Bronze Butler).
The hacker group has been targeting Japanese heavy industry, manufacturing and international relations at least since 2012,
According to the experts, the group is linked to the People’s Republic of China and is focused on exfiltrating confidential data.
The ministry suspects the information might have been stolen from documents sent from several defense equipment makers as part of a bidding process for the project, Mitsubishi Electric did not win the bid, Japanese media reports said.
Other Japanese defense contractors were hit by cyber attacks, including NEC Corp. , Pasco Corp. and Kobe Steel Ltd.
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(SecurityAffairs – Mitsubishi, hacking)
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