Japan Pays Up After Cyberattacks Rattle the Economy
Japanese companies are moving to pay compensation to users after waves of cyberattacks disrupted internet services and raised concerns about economic stability. GMO Internet Group, a leading provider of online financial services, said customers would be compensated for losses stemming from unauthorized access to its foreign exchange trading service, and all customers would receive 5,000 yen, about 32 dollars, as "an initial gesture of good faith." The pledge was made by CEO Masatoshi Kumagai in a blog post on Sunday, Oct. 25.
The company's account points to a large-scale intrusion. GMO said 26,739 servers used for automated foreign exchange margin trading may have been affected, and it shut down all servers on Wednesday. Since some users reported losses from unauthorized transactions after the incident, the company said Saturday it will compensate users for those losses. It also plans a consolation payment of 5,000 yen to all users, regardless of whether they suffered financial damage.
The compensation offer came alongside an unusual request to the state. On Oct. 24, GMO said it had asked the government to take active cyber defense measures, which would involve the Self-Defense Forces and police preemptively breaking into an attacker's server to neutralize it. Operations under that system began on Oct. 1. If acted on, the request would mark the first use of those powers. GMO said it had received a demand for money from the suspected perpetrator, who threatened to release its information if it refused.
The GMO case is part of a much wider breach wave. An investigation by Japanese IT company Macnica found Japan had suffered 119 cyber attacks this year as of Oct. 6, with 68 percent occurring since July, up from 84 attacks in 2025 and 62 in 2024. The Japan Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center found attackers used AI tools to scan for known vulnerabilities and conduct attacks via APIs. NTT Docomo suspended some transmissions, including J-Alert and disaster and evacuation information from local governments, while continuing emergency earthquake early warnings and tsunami alerts.
What comes next is a government-led effort to find weaknesses before attackers do. Japan said on Friday it would set up a team to simulate cyberattacks using AI to identify weaknesses in technology systems. The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology said vulnerabilities in smartphone apps may be behind the spate of attacks, with apps for Google's Android operating system targeted and those for Apple likely to be attacked as well. Masashi Nomiyama, a partner at Deloitte Tohmatsu Cyber, noted that many Japanese company sites use outdated software, one reason they are frequently targeted.