Panasonic Admits Data Breach, Vulnerability Existed For Months

There is currently a real wave of attacks on Japanese technology companies, with the most prominent victim so far being the electronics giant Panasonic. This now had to confirm that unknown hackers had gained access to internal networks.

Unauthorized access for several months

The Japanese electronics company Panasonic recently confirmed illegal access to networks and data. In a statement (PDF), the company writes that the incident occurred on November 11th. There was “unlawful third-party access” in which “some data on a file server was accessed while intruding”.

At least that’s the official version, at least in writing. When asked by TechCrunch, Panasonic spokeswoman Dannea DeLisser confirmed that access actually began on June 22nd and ended on November 3rd, 2021 – but it was only discovered by the group on November 11th.

The company did not provide details of this illegal access, which makes the extent of it difficult to assess. Panasonic is investigating the matter itself on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is “currently working with a specialized third-party organization to investigate the leak and determine whether the breach concerned personal data of customers and/or sensitive data related to the social infrastructure.”

Authorities were informed

Panasonic continued: “After the unauthorized access was discovered, the company immediately reported the incident to the appropriate authorities and took countermeasures, including measures to prevent external access to the network.” The electronics company apologized to anyone who might have experienced this inconvenience.