[ITmedia News] Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications requests telecommunications companies to "block" GMO attacker sites Report

The Asahi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and other newspapers reported on October 29 that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has requested ``blocking'' to telecommunications carriers over the issue of unauthorized access to GMO Internet.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications called for forcibly cutting off connections to the attacker's website that posted personal information allegedly belonging to GMO customers. In a document dated 27th, the companies were notified through four telecommunications industry organizations, including the Telecommunications Carriers Association.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications issued a request stating that there is a real risk of secondary damage caused by the misuse of the information, ``Given the magnitude of the social impact of this incident, we request that the site where the information is posted be blocked.'' An executive at a major telecommunications company who received the request said, ``It's difficult to decide whether to implement it or not.''

Since blocking requires knowing the connection destinations of all users, there is a risk of violating the ``secrecy of communications'' guaranteed by the Constitution.

According to Jiji Press and Yomiuri Shimbun, the carriers have not disclosed whether they actually implemented blocking. At a press conference on the morning of the 29th, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara also stated that he was having "various interactions" with carriers, but declined to give a specific response, saying the matter is currently ongoing.

On the 28th, GMO announced that it had confirmed that the domains of the attacker's sites, including mirror sites, had been suspended. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun believes that the site was no longer viewable and that the blocking was not activated as a result.