Sony Network Communications, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation, confirmed a security breach resulting in the leakage of approximately 2.5 million records containing personal information of current and former customers. The company operates as an internet and communications service provider in the Japanese market.
The breach occurred on October 19 and was detected just four days later, prompting the company to immediately shut down the affected servers and block external communications. According to the official announcement, an unauthorized party gained access to the database of the So-net member service, which supports internet connection services.
Details and Exposed Data
The investigation confirmed that the total compromised records reached 2,585,481. The exposed data included full names, phone numbers, email addresses, user IDs, dates of birth, gender, and internet connection IDs. It is worth noting that the incident did not result in the leakage of any banking data, payment card details, or other financial account details.
Additionally, 54,401 extra email addresses along with their passwords were leaked across several mail services, and the company advised users to immediately change their passwords.
Wide-scale Impact on Other Service Providers
The distribution of affected records included 2,141,986 records for the So-net service, in addition to 443,495 records for the plala (S Course) service. These latter records affect another telecommunications company, NTT Docomo, which contracted with Sony Network Communications to provide Docomo Hikari services. NTT Docomo has notified affected customers, warning them against phishing messages and fake websites impersonating the d POINT club and the Universal Studios Japan campaign.
What Does This Breach Practically Represent?
This incident comes in a series of cyberattacks targeting major companies and service providers in Japan since the beginning of the year, including attacks on GMO Internet Group, the telecom giant KDDI, IDC Frontier, and NTT. The accelerating pace of breaches has prompted the Japanese government to hold emergency meetings to formulate an effective response to these threats.