JR East says data of up to 2.06 million users may have leaked after IDC Frontier attack
In short
JR East said on October 9 that email addresses and other data of up to about 2.06 million users of its Eki-net (えきねっと) and Otona no Kyujitsu Kurabu (大人の休日倶楽部) services may have leaked, after unauthorized access at cloud provider IDC Frontier (IDCフロンティア). TBS NEWS DIG reported a total of more than 6 million records, including about 4.03 million email addresses of View Card (ビューカード) users. TBS reported that no misuse had been confirmed and that rail operations were not affected.
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JR East announced on October 9 that user information in its train reservation service Eki-net (えきねっと) and its membership service Otona no Kyujitsu Kurabu (大人の休日倶楽部) may have leaked, up to about 2.06 million records, ITmedia reported. NHK reported the figure as more than 2 million records, such as member email addresses. According to ITmedia, the cause is unauthorized access announced by IDC Frontier (IDCフロンティア) on the 7th, and user information stored on an external service used for sending emails may have been viewed or obtained by a third party. [ 3 , 5 ]
About 1.67 million Eki-net records and about 390,000 Otona no Kyujitsu Kurabu records may be affected. For Eki-net, only email addresses are involved, and members of the corporate service Business Eki-net (ビジネスえきねっと) are not included, ITmedia reported. For Otona no Kyujitsu Kurabu, email addresses, member numbers, credit card expiry dates and dates of birth may have leaked. The company said there is no possibility that names, addresses, phone numbers or credit card numbers leaked. [ 5 , 6 ]
TBS NEWS DIG reported a combined total of more than 6 million records, adding about 4.03 million email addresses of users of View Card (ビューカード), a credit card issued by a group company. ITmedia's figure of about 2.06 million covers Eki-net and Otona no Kyujitsu Kurabu. TBS NEWS DIG reported that no misuse of the information has been confirmed so far, and that rail operations are not affected because they run on a separate system, according to JR East. [ 5 , 6 ]
The unauthorized access has partly disrupted member email delivery for both services, ITmedia reported. JR East plans to notify users whose information may have leaked individually by email and apologise once preparations are complete. [ 5 , 6 ]
NHK described IDC Frontier as a SoftBank subsidiary whose system was hit by a cyberattack. TBS NEWS DIG reported that the cloud service of SoftBank Group's IDC Frontier was hit by a ransomware attack early on the 7th, affecting 495 companies and local governments that use it. ITmedia reported that the IDCF Cloud failure began around 3:40 a.m. on the 7th and affected part of East Japan Region 1 at a data center in Shirakawa, Fukushima Prefecture, and that IDC Frontier expects retrieving and restoring data to be difficult on some affected virtual servers. [ 3 , 5 , 6 ]
Why it matters
The possible leak involves customer data of JR East services, including members' credit card expiry dates and dates of birth. The attack on IDC Frontier's cloud service has affected 495 companies and local governments, and some data may be difficult to recover, according to reports.
Key facts
- JR East announced on October 9 that user information in Eki-net and Otona no Kyujitsu Kurabu may have leaked, up to about 2.06 million records. [ 5 ]
- About 1.67 million Eki-net email addresses and about 390,000 Otona no Kyujitsu Kurabu records may be affected. [ 5 , 6 ]
- Otona no Kyujitsu Kurabu data includes email addresses, member numbers, credit card expiry dates and dates of birth; names, addresses, phone numbers and card numbers are not at risk, the company said. [ 5 ]
- TBS NEWS DIG reported about 4.03 million email addresses of View Card users may also have leaked, for a total of more than 6 million. [ 6 ]
- The leak is linked to an attack on IDC Frontier's systems, which JR East uses. [ 3 , 5 , 6 ]
- 495 companies and local governments are affected by the IDC Frontier incident. [ 5 , 6 ]
- No misuse of the data has been confirmed, and rail operations are unaffected, TBS NEWS DIG reported. [ 6 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- JR East said email addresses and other user information in services including Eki-net may have leaked because of an attack on IDC Frontier systems it uses. [ 3 , 5 , 6 ]
- The number of potentially affected Eki-net and Otona no Kyujitsu Kurabu records is more than 2 million. [ 3 , 5 ]
- About 1.67 million Eki-net and about 390,000 Otona no Kyujitsu Kurabu records may be affected. [ 5 , 6 ]
- The IDC Frontier incident has affected 495 companies and local governments. [ 5 , 6 ]
- JR East plans to contact affected users individually. [ 5 , 6 ]
Still unclear
- Whether the total is about 2.06 million or more than 6 million. ITmedia's figure covers Eki-net and Otona no Kyujitsu Kurabu; only TBS NEWS DIG reports about 4.03 million View Card email addresses and a total above 6 million.
- The nature of the attack on IDC Frontier. NHK calls it a cyberattack and ITmedia unauthorized access; only TBS NEWS DIG describes it as a ransomware attack.
- Whether the data has been misused. Only TBS NEWS DIG reports that no misuse has been confirmed so far.
- Whether data on affected IDC Frontier servers can be recovered. ITmedia reports IDC Frontier expects data retrieval and restoration to be difficult on some virtual servers.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- October 7: IDCF Cloud failure begins, affecting part of East Japan Region 1, according to ITmedia. [ 5 ]
- October 9: NHK reports JR East's possible leak of more than 2 million records. [ 3 ]
- October 9: ITmedia reports the breakdown of up to about 2.06 million records. [ 5 ]
- October 9: TBS NEWS DIG reports a total of more than 6 million records including View Card users. [ 6 ]