Japan’s MUFG Bank Also Hit by Similar Cyberattack as JAL; Metropolitan Police Department Working to Determine Source of Attacks

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:39 JST, December 27, 2024

MUFG Bank Ltd. announced it was hit by a cyberattack, which resulted from large amounts of data being sent to the company, on Thursday. Japan Airlines Co. was also affected by a similar attack on the day. Both companies experienced temporary system failures, affecting their customers.

The government has become increasingly concerned about the attacks on JAL and MUFG Bank, as they are both considered to be critical infrastructure. It is believed the companies were affected by distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, which are a type of cyberattack that sends large amounts of data to overwhelm communications systems.

After speaking with JAL representatives, the Metropolitan Police Department is analyzing transmitted information to determine the source of the attack. The MPD is viewing the attack as a case of obstruction of business by damaging a computer.

In the case of JAL, no criminal statement or demand for money in exchange for restoring the system has been confirmed so far, according to the MPD.

MUFG Bank was hit by a similar attack, and some of company’s online banking customers had difficulty logging in from around 3 p.m. on Thursday.

So far, viruses or personal information leaks have not been detected.

The DDoS attacks are spreading worldwide. E-Gov, the government’s online system, was attacked in September 2022, resulting in the system being temporarily inaccessible. In May 2023, the official website of Hiroshima, the city where the Group of Seven summit was being held, also experienced system glitches.

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