The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said on the 5th that its safety information collection and provision system, which local governments use in emergencies to answer families and acquaintances about people's safety, suffered unauthorized access. No leak of personal information has been confirmed, but the agency shut the system down to investigate, it said.
"We deeply apologize for the trouble this causes," the agency said.
The system is used during armed attack situations and similar emergencies to share evacuees' names and addresses among the national government and local authorities. A resident asks a local government about a family member, and that government checks safety information held by other municipalities as well before answering. It has been in operation since 2008 and was used after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
The system has two parts: one that residents can reach from outside to search names only, and one cut off from outside access that local governments use to share personal information. The part reachable from outside was the one breached. Neither holds personal information in normal times, according to the agency.
Detected by the national cyber office
The unauthorized access occurred between Oct. 21 and 30. The National Cyber Security Office (NCO) noticed suspicious access, and the agency confirmed it with contractor Fujisoft of Yokohama on the 4th. The agency has asked Fujisoft to investigate the cause and prevent a recurrence, but no date has been set for bringing the system back online.
The breach is one of several to hit organizations in Japan. NTT Docomo has reported unauthorized access and the leak of up to 300,000 items including mobile phone numbers, and a major consumer finance company has reported the leak of borrowing data for 320,000 people, according to Asahi Shimbun reports.