Japanese firms offer customer compensation following disruptive cyberattacks
What's the story
Japanese companies are now offering compensation to their customers in the wake of a series of disruptive cyberattacks. The attacks have not only interrupted internet services but also raised concerns over economic stability in the country. GMO Internet Group has announced that it will compensate customers for losses incurred due to unauthorized access after a cyberattack on its foreign exchange trading service.
Compensation details
GMO Internet Group's shares plummet
GMO Internet Group's CEO Masatoshi Kumagai announced that all customers would be compensated with 5,000 yen ($32) as "an initial gesture of good faith."
The announcement comes after the company's shares plummeted nearly 14% to a four-month low.
This was in stark contrast to Tokyo's benchmark index, which rose by 0.3%.
Cybersecurity concerns
AI accelerating cybercrime
Experts have warned that artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to automate tasks such as scanning for software vulnerabilities and creating phishing campaigns.
This has made cybercrime faster, cheaper, and harder to detect.
Last week, government and company websites in Japan, Europe, and other regions went offline after critical vulnerabilities were disclosed in the PHP programming language.
Cyberdefense measures
GMO urges government to implement cyberdefense measures
In response to the cyberattack, GMO has requested the Japanese government to implement cyberdefense measures. These could include steps like attacking hostile servers to neutralize threats.
Kumagai stressed on the need for public and private sectors to come together for Japan's protection.
The company received a demand for money from a party believed to be behind the attack, along with threats of disclosing company and customer information if it didn't comply.
Cybersecurity breaches
Surge in cybersecurity incidents in Japan
The recent spate of cyberattacks has exposed vulnerabilities in Japanese companies' ability to protect customer data.
According to TrendAI, there have been 723 cybersecurity incidents this year until October 20, exceeding the annual totals for 2025 and 2024.
Satoshi Nagano, president of cybersecurity firm ESET Japan, said these reports may indicate both the threats organizations face and greater visibility into previously undetected or underinvestigated incidents.