The Singapore headquarters of the Nikkei Group was hit by a ransomware attack a week ago on May 13, according to media giant Nikkei News.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei), is a Japanese newspaper aimed primarily at the middle class. According to surveys, 78% of Japanese companies subscribe to Nikkei, and 90% of positions above department heads in large companies with more than 300 employees read Nikkei. Nikkei is also the world’s largest circulation financial newspaper, with about 4 million print and digital subscribers and more than 40 subsidiaries involved in publishing, broadcasting, events, database services and indexing businesses. The media group acquired the Financial Times in 2015 and now has dozens of foreign editorial offices and more than 1,500 journalists worldwide.Â
“The unauthorized access was first discovered on May 13 and an internal investigation is underway.” The company revealed in a press release issued Thursday. “Nikkei Group Asia headquarters shut down the affected servers at the first opportunity, while other measures were taken to minimize the impact.”
“The affected servers may contain customer data, and Nikkei is currently in the process of determining the nature and scope of the attack.” Nikkei also said that so far it has found no signs of a data breach in its investigation of the ransomware attack.
Nikkei and its Asian division have reported the ransomware attack to the Japanese and Singaporean authorities responsible for personal data protection. “We sincerely apologize for the trouble we have caused.” In a statement of apology, Nikkei’s public relations office said, “We will cooperate and take appropriate action with the relevant authorities in an effort to strengthen information protection.”
Nikkei News added that it is currently investigating whether the attackers accessed customer data that may have been stored on the affected servers, and that “the affected servers may contain customer data, and Nikkei is currently determining the nature and scope of the attack.” As of now, no evidence of a data breach has been found in any of the investigations into the ransomware attack.
The attack was reported by Nikkei News and its Asian subsidiaries to the authorities responsible for personal data protection in Japan and Singapore. Immediately after the attack, Nikkei News’ public relations office issued a statement of apology: “We sincerely apologize for the trouble we caused, and we will work with the relevant authorities to take appropriate action in an effort to strengthen information protection. “
In fact, Nikkei News was the victim of a business e-mail attack (BEC) as early as two years ago. The attackers, disguised as Nikkei News executives, tricked an employee of the U.S. branch in New York into wiring $29 million into a bank account they had set up.
Nikkei News, one of the world’s largest media companies, has about 4 million print and digital subscribers and more than 40 affiliates involved in publishing, broadcasting, events, database services and indexing businesses The media conglomerate, which acquired the Financial Times in 2015, now has dozens of foreign editorial offices and more than 1,500 journalists around the world.
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