Category: Japan

In a concerning turn of events, the servers of Japan’s National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity (NISC) fell victim to a cyberattack by a hacking group, highlighting the vulnerability of even the most secure digital entities.

NISC plays a pivotal role in Japan’s cybersecurity landscape by serving as a centralized platform to combat foreign cyber threats. It also functions as a repository for the collection and analysis of data related to digital attacks at the national level.

Regrettably, NISC detected a security breach in early August of this year, during which a third party gained unauthorized access to email contents through fraudulent means.

Upon conducting a thorough investigation, it was revealed that this breach had actually occurred in the same time-frame the previous year but remained undetected until June 2023, when the consequences of the intrusion began to surface.

In response to this breach, NISC has taken swift action to notify and caution all affected parties. There is a particular concern regarding the potential for social engineering attacks, wherein hackers may exploit their access to contact victims and harvest personal information for nefarious purposes.

While the Japanese government did not directly accuse any specific entity, there was an indirect implication that China may have played a role in this cyberattack. They have also stated that they possess evidence supporting their suspicions of China’s involvement in malicious activities.

This incident underscores the importance of Japan’s commitment to bolstering its cybersecurity efforts. Just two years ago, the nation pledged to increase its budget for national cybersecurity initiatives. In February 2023, Japan reaffirmed this commitment by expanding its cyber defense force to 4,000 personnel, a measure aimed at strengthening its ability to defend against state-sponsored cyber threats.

The breach at NISC serves as a stark reminder of the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats and the critical importance of maintaining robust defenses in the digital realm.

The post Hackers infiltrate servers of Japanese Government Cybersecurity Agency appeared first on Cybersecurity Insiders.

The NSA discovered the intrusion in 2020—we don’t know how—and alerted the Japanese. The Washington Post has the story:

The hackers had deep, persistent access and appeared to be after anything they could get their hands on—plans, capabilities, assessments of military shortcomings, according to three former senior U.S. officials, who were among a dozen current and former U.S. and Japanese officials interviewed, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

[…]

The 2020 penetration was so disturbing that Gen. Paul Nakasone, the head of the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command, and Matthew Pottinger, who was White House deputy national security adviser at the time, raced to Tokyo. They briefed the defense minister, who was so concerned that he arranged for them to alert the prime minister himself.

Beijing, they told the Japanese officials, had breached Tokyo’s defense networks, making it one of the most damaging hacks in that country’s modern history.

More analysis.

Killnet hacking group of Russia is suspected to have disrupted around 20 government websites related to the Japanese government. According to an update released by Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, a foreign interference is suspected behind the attack. But the role of Killnet hacking group that is being sponsored by Kremlin is yet to be found out.

The problem started in the late hours of Tuesday when an e-Gov administrative portal was experiencing login issues. The cause was determined by the IT staff to be of Ddos Genre, confirming the role of a foreign group.

Check Point Software that played a significant role in investigating the attack has confirmed the role of Killnet behind the disruption.

NOTE 1- Killnet is a hacking group that is being funded by Moscow to wage digital wars against countries that are to support Ukraine. Some countries like the UK, US, Japan, South Korea and Australia are supporting Ukraine by offering supplies to essentials, funds, and ammunition. And so, on the word of Kremlin, the said hacking group is launching cyber attacks on the digital infrastructure of the adversary nations.

NOTE 2- The war between Moscow and Kyiv is about to take interesting terms, as both the nations will end the war with peace talks. Ukraine’s that celebrated its liberation day on a recent note, is ready to take part in the peace talks if the NATO nations indulge in negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

NOTE 3- Other other hand, Russian soldiers are tired of the war and as their wages have been stopped, they have stopped taking orders of seniors are refusing to kill innocent Ukrainian civilians.

NOTE 4- Anonymous hacking gang has declared war on Russian Killnet and has so far siphoned data of 360,000 Russian federal agency files stored on the government servers in retaliation to Killnet’s digital attack on European and Italian institutions and government ministries.

 

The post Japan governments hit by Killnet Hacking group of Russia appeared first on Cybersecurity Insiders.