Japanese companies offer compensation as cyberattacks hit economy
GMO Internet Group will compensate customers for cyberattack losses and give all customers ¥5,000, while Park24 will pay customers ¥3,000 each following a personal data breach.
Japan recorded 723 cybersecurity incidents in the year to October 20, surpassing the totals from 2025 and 2024, according to TrendAI data. Japanese companies are offering compensation to users following a series of cyberattacks that disrupted internet services and raised concerns about economic stability. GMO Internet Group, a leading provider of online financial services, pledged to compensate customers for losses resulting from unauthorized access in a cyberattack on its foreign exchange trading service, offering ¥5,000 (US$32) as a goodwill gesture.
The CEO of GMO, Masatoshi Kumagai, stated that all customers would receive this compensation. The internet itself is starting to break down, Kumagai noted, as Japan prepares to set up a team to simulate cyberattacks using AI and identify weaknesses in technology systems. Experts attribute the increasing cybercrime to AI's role in automating tasks like scanning for software vulnerabilities and crafting phishing campaigns.
Japanese companies are grappling with attacks as organizations work to mitigate risks from flaws in the PHP programming language, which underpins much of the internet. Government and company websites in Japan, Europe, and elsewhere were offline last week following the disclosure of critical vulnerabilities in PHP, prompting millions of hacking attempts.
Kumagai has called on the Japanese government to enhance cyberdefence measures, suggesting steps such as attacking hostile servers to neutralize threats. The company received a ransom demand from the cyberattack perpetrators but refused to comply, stating it would respond in coordination with police and other authorities. GMO will offer a free alternative service to customers for six months, and it is currently unable to estimate the impact on earnings from the goodwill payments and loss compensation.
The recent cyberattacks have exposed weaknesses in Japanese companies' ability to protect customer data, potentially leading to increased costs for bolstering defenses.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
