GMO to detail cyberattack incident at news conference - NHKニュース

Japanese online financial service provider GMO Internet Group is set to hold on Monday its first news conference about unauthorized access at the foreign exchange trading platform.

Executives including Group CEO Kumagai Masatoshi will attend. They are expected to detail the circumstances surrounding the cyberattack, measures to prevent further damage, and arrangements to resolve the situation.

GMO announced the system breach in October. Sources told NHK that in April 2024, the group's cybersecurity subsidiary had warned about vulnerabilities of the compromised system. Analysts suspect that failures to fix the weaknesses may have allowed the attack.

One focus during the news conference will be whether GMO took adequate actions after it received a report on the vulnerabilities. Another question will be whether the company will be able to allay growing concerns among its clients.

GMO was hit with a ransom demand following the cyberattack, but refused to pay. What was described as personal information on one customer was posted on a website on Tuesday. The webpage was later rendered inaccessible.

GMO said it had offered rewards and gained information that might help determine where the attack originated. The company added that it had shared the information with police.

GMO also decided to make a goodwill payment to all current service users.