{
  "id": 16559824,
  "title": "Japanese companies compensate users as cyberattacks buffet economy",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/26/japanese-companies-compensate-users-as-cyberattacks-buffet-economy-16559824",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-26T04:15:25.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express",
    "slug": "the-indian-express",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/japanese-companies-compensate-users-as-cyberattacks-buffet-economy-10936882/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Japanese companies are taking steps to compensate users in the wake of numerous cyberattacks that have disrupted internet services and raised concerns about economic stability. GMO Internet Group announced that customers would receive compensation for losses resulting from unauthorized access following a cyberattack on its foreign exchange trading service, with an initial gesture of good faith of 5,000 yen ($32) per customer, CEO Masatoshi Kumagai stated in a blog post on Sunday. Japan pledged to establish a team to simulate cyberattacks using AI to identify vulnerabilities in technology systems as organizations strive to mitigate risks from flaws in the PHP programming language that forms the backbone of the internet. Shares of GMO, valued at $2.6 billion as of Friday's close, plummeted nearly 14% to a four-month low, while Tokyo's benchmark index rose by 0.3%. Japanese companies are contending with attacks, with experts asserting that AI is facilitating the automation of tasks ranging from detecting software vulnerabilities to crafting phishing campaigns, rendering cybercrime more rapid, economical, and difficult to detect. Government and company websites in Japan, Europe, and elsewhere experienced outages last week following the disclosure of critical vulnerabilities in the PHP programming language, which triggered millions of hacking attempts. GMO sought assistance from the Japanese government to implement cyberdefence measures in response to the cyberattack, as a cyberdefence system was introduced earlier this month. This system could encompass actions such as targeting hostile servers to neutralize threats. Kumagai emphasized the need for collaboration between public and private sectors to safeguard Japan. GMO reported receiving a ransom demand from an alleged perpetrator of the attack, along with a threat to reveal company and customer information if the request was not granted. The company refused to comply and coordinated with law enforcement and other authorities to address the incident. The firm aims to provide a free alternative service to its customers for six months. The scale of recent cyberattacks has highlighted weaknesses in Japanese companies' ability to safeguard extensive customer data. There were 723 cybersecurity incidents in the year ending October 20, surpassing the annual totals in 2025 and 2024. Reports may reflect the threats organizations face and greater visibility into incidents that would have otherwise remained undetected, underreported, or undisclosed, according to Satoshi Nagano, president of cybersecurity firm ESET Japan. Park24, which operates the Times car-sharing service, announced it would pay 3,000-yen to customers following a personal data breach. The company stated it would no longer store identity document images after completing registration verification and anticipates an extraordinary loss of 5.5 billion yen due to the attack and compensation payments. Well-resourced companies can mitigate the growing cybersecurity risks by investing in enhanced defenses, as a report from Moody's Ratings suggests. Those with inadequate patching practices are likely to lag further behind, particularly if they possess extensive digital networks that significantly expand their attack surface.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Qatar Tribune Business",
        "title": "Cyberattacks hit Japanese firms exposing millions of records",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/25/cyberattacks-hit-japanese-firms-exposing-millions-of-records",
        "published": "2026-10-25T21:00:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "CNA - Business",
        "title": "Japanese companies compensate users as cyberattacks buffet economy",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/26/japanese-companies-compensate-users-as-cyberattacks-buffet-economy",
        "published": "2026-10-26T01:51:29.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Economic Times Tech",
        "title": "Japanese companies compensate users as cyberattacks buffet economy",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/26/japanese-companies-compensate-users-as-cyberattacks-buffet-economy-16559304",
        "published": "2026-10-26T04:06:23.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}