3,600 personal information leaked at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, unauthorized access in July

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 30th that there was unauthorized access to the ministry's network, which allows communication with the outside world, and that approximately 3,600 pieces of personal information, including names and email addresses, may have been leaked. Approximately 900 of these include information on persons other than Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel. It does not contain any highly confidential information.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, unauthorized access was detected on July 27th. We immediately blocked the service and took measures such as invalidating authentication information. As a result of an investigation with the cooperation of an external specialist company, it was determined that personal information may have been leaked to an external party. So far, no secondary damage such as misuse of personal information has been confirmed.

The network connected to the outside world was accessed illegally. There is a separate closed network between ministry employees that handles highly confidential information, and the consular systems related to passports and the overseas safety information distribution service TabiRegi were also not subject to this unauthorized access.

An executive in charge revealed that ``a third party stole authentication information within the email service.'' Contact external parties who may be involved in a leak individually and explain the situation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs apologized, saying, ``We deeply apologize for the inconvenience and concern caused.'' To prevent a recurrence, the company said it will review access control and authentication methods, strengthen monitoring, and provide thorough information security education.