At least dozens of computers used at Japanese diplomatic offices in nine countries, including Canada, have been infected with viruses since this summer, reports in Japan said.
Many of the targeted computers were found to have been infected with a so-called backdoor virus, which allows a remote hacker to gain access and steal information. Cyber-attacks against the Japanese Embassy in Seoul opened a route by which a large quantity of diplomatic information could have been sent to an outside server, according to sources, Japanese media and ANN reported.
According to the sources quoted, the nine countries where the affected Japanese diplomatic offices are located include Canada, China, France, Myanmar, the Netherlands, South Korea and the United States.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry has launched an investigation to find out how much damage it suffered, suspecting the infection was caused by so-called spear attacks targeting the ministry’s confidential diplomatic information.
The revelation came soon after Japan’s defense industry and political nerve center had come under cyber-attacks. About 80 computers at Tokyo-based major defense contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. were found last month to have been infected with viruses, leading the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department to investigate the case on suspicion that the Unauthorized Computer Access Law had been violated.
The Japanese Embassy in Seoul realized this summer that computers and other devices used by its staff had been infected by viruses including the backdoor virus. It was found that a route had been created to allow internal information to be sent to the outside, according to the sources.
The computer virus in question provides a backdoor into a computer through which a hacker can secure remote access and obtain data to use or distribute outside. The virus is said to be often used in spear attacks, which target specific people or companies to steal information from them.
The Foreign Ministry handles diplomatic secrets in a closed system and other kinds of information in an open one, but even the open system includes a network that only allows authorized accesses by users with passwords and IDs. However, this network was found to have been infected through the attacks, according to the sources.
An official at the ministry’s Information and Communication Division admitted that the ministry was exposed to many spear attacks in May and June, some of which resulted in virus infections of some computers.
No confidential information has been leaked due to recent cyber-attacks against the Foreign Ministry, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said.
Computers at the ministry’s headquarters in Tokyo and its overseas offices “have been receiving many targeted e-mail attacks since June” in an apparent attempt to steal diplomatic secrets, Fujimura told a press conference.
Meanwhile, the Ottawa Citizen reported that Saskatchewan’s potash industry was the target of an unprecedented cyber theft of classified federal data.
The foreign hackers posed online as an aboriginal group to gain access to the Finance Department and Treasury Board networks, according to the paper.
The intruders then sent emails to high-ranking department officials containing a link to a webpage infected with a sophisticated virus. It then opened a pathway deep into the government networks and installed spy malware.
They also sent infected PDF files that, when opened, unleashed more malicious code to target and download government secrets.
The “spear-phishing” attacks are widely believed to have been perpetrated using servers in China.
The Chinese government denies involvement.
The federal government has publicly downplayed the extent of the espionage, though a Jan. 31 government memo revealed, “data has been exfiltrated and that privileged accounts have been compromised,” the paper reported.
Canada’s share of world potash reserves amount to more than 50 percent most of which lie in Saskatchewan.
The plant nutrient is in high demand especially in China and India to boost crop yield and maintain food security.
Chinese multinationals are reportedly considering partnering with global interests in possible bids for potash projects in Canada.