Ransomware attack on Softbank subsidiary, system failure at local government

On the 7th, IDC Frontier (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), which provides cloud services for businesses, announced that its services had been attacked by ransomware, causing system failures. Regarding the scope of the impact, the company says that the service is "495 contracted companies and local governments." The company says it is "confirming whether personal information was leaked."

The attack occurred on IDCF Cloud, a cloud service used by companies and local governments to operate their websites. Some of them appear to have been attacked.

According to IDC Frontier, it is "unable to confirm" what users use the service for or what information it stores.

A system failure occurred around 3:40 a.m. on the 7th.

IDC Frontier is a subsidiary of SoftBank. The company explains on its website, ``We are continuing to identify the detailed cause and investigate the extent of the impact. We are contacting affected customers individually.''

Trouble occurs on Ibaraki prefecture and prefectural police websites, no prospects for recovery.

Ibaraki Prefecture announced on the 7th that the prefecture's homepage (HP) has experienced a problem and is no longer viewable. According to the prefecture, there is no outlook for recovery, and Softbank, which provides HP services to the prefecture, is investigating the cause.

According to the Prefectural Information Systems Division, the website remains unavailable as of 8 p.m. The data does not include personal information. According to the division, SoftBank explained that ``a power failure occurred at the data center in the cloud that provides services.'' The data center is managed by IDC Frontier.

A representative from the division said, ``We have not received any explanation as to whether or not this was caused by a ransomware attack.''

According to the Prefectural Property Management Division, they have received about 50 inquiries from prefectural residents.

Administrative procedures such as subsidy applications to the prefecture are being accepted through a separate prefecture website, ``Ibaraki Electronic Application and Notification Service,'' and services for prefectural residents have not been affected so far.

The prefectural police website is also no longer viewable. According to the prefectural police, there have been no reports of problems related to the website, such as reservations for driver's license renewals.