Japanese companies compensate users as cyberattacks buffet economy

Japanese companies are beginning to compensate customers after cyberattacks disrupted services and exposed personal information, amid broader concern that escalating cybercrime could threaten economic stability. GMO Internet, whose foreign-exchange trading service suffered unauthorised access, said it would reimburse customers for resulting losses and give every customer 5,000 yen as an initial gesture of goodwill. The company also received a money demand from a party believed responsible, accompanied by a threat to release company and customer data. GMO said it would not pay and would work with police and other authorities. Its shares fell 11% in morning trading after the announcement.

The attacks come as organisations respond to newly disclosed critical flaws in PHP, a programming language used across much of the internet. The vulnerabilities prompted millions of hacking attempts and contributed to websites going offline in Japan, Europe and elsewhere. Experts warn that artificial intelligence can accelerate cybercrime by automating the search for software weaknesses and the creation of phishing campaigns. Japan plans to establish a team that will use AI to simulate attacks and identify vulnerabilities in technology systems. Separately, Park24, which runs the Times car-sharing service, said it would pay affected customers 3,000 yen following a personal-data breach.