TOKYO - GMO Internet Group Inc. CEO Masatoshi Kumagai said Monday that the company has not sufficiently addressed security vulnerability, even though it was informed of weakness in 2024 before it was hit by a recent data leak caused by unauthorized access.
At the firm's first press conference since the cyberattack surfaced last month, Kumagai apologized over the incident and damage to customers' assets. The company announced Kumagai and three other executives will be slapped with pay cuts.
"We were not able to utilize (the vulnerability alert) in the operation of the service," said Kumagai, who will take a 30 percent cut in his remuneration for three months.
The vulnerability was pointed out by experts from a group company in April 2024.
An attacker intruded the server on Aug. 5 this year. GMO were unaware of the attack until Oct. 20, a day after a customer inquired about some suspected unauthorized transactions, and it confirmed that a third party had installed an unauthorized program in the server environments of some customers.
The unauthorized access targeted the Onamae.com Desktop Cloud service, which is used for foreign exchange trading.
The intrusion route and the full scope of financial damage inflicted by the unauthorized access are not yet known, according to the company.
Sources close to the matter say GMO told the government that a North Korea-linked hacking group was likely behind the cyberattack. But the company did not elaborate on the matter at its press conference.
The alleged attacker has not contacted GMO since the night of Oct. 23, the company said.
On Oct. 27, a hacker believed to be behind the unauthorized intrusion disclosed some customer information after threatening to release it.
In a statement, the hacker claimed that information linked to one GMO customer had been posted online after the company failed to respond to a $1 million ransom demand.
The disclosed information included a name, address and other personal details, though its authenticity was unclear.
