On Monday, Mitsubishi Electric Corp said that a Chinese cybercrime group is suspected of targeting the company and the information regarding the government agencies and other business partners might have been compromised.
Mitsubishi, a key player in the Japanese defense and infrastructure industry, confirmed that sensitive information regarding the defense, power, and railway sectors was unaffected as of now. It said a Chinese cybercrime group is suspected to be behind the attack last June.
Mitsubishi observed some irregular activity from a device located in Japan during this attack and the investigation led to detecting some unauthorized access to the top management in the company's head office. In a statement, the company said:"We deeply apologize for causing great worry and inconvenience."
The company beefed up its security last year
Mitsubishi is one of the major companies that is involved in defense manufacturing in Japan. It has been a manufacturer in the defense field and had the third-largest contract from the government during fiscal 2018.
In January last year, Mitsubishi developed a multi-layered defense system that protects its customers from cyber-attacks. With the integration of technology into driving, Mitsubishi had been focusing on reducing any errors in the new technology by patching up vulnerabilities. Mitsubishi has also been focusing on the cybersecurity business.
The threat of cyberattacks since 2011
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries(MHI) was the target of a cyber-attack in 2011. Viruses were found in more than 80 servers. Data on missiles, submarines, and nuclear power plants were targeted during the cyber attack. The MHI came under heavy criticism and a thorough investigation was ordered with regards to learning about what information was leaked during the attack.
In 2011 there were suggestions that China was behind the attack, but Beijing rebuffed the statements. China has been continuously accused of targeting information through cyber attacks from foreign countries. The attack in 2011 is said to be the first of its kind against the defense ministry in Japan. Back then, even IHI Corporation claimed that they were a target of a cyber-attack at the same time. Japan has since then been focusing largely on cyber-attacks.
