Two years before GMO Internet Group services were hit by unauthorized access, a subsidiary warned that an administrator could reach all users' information through a function called Active Directory, NHK reported. The risk was flagged but not adequately addressed, according to the report.
Active Directory is Microsoft's directory service, widely used by companies to manage employee accounts and permissions across a network. An administrator with broad rights over it can in principle view the data of every user on the system.
NHK did not say who wrote the warning, when the subsidiary produced it, or what response it drew. The report also did not specify which services were affected or how many users' information may have been exposed.
The unauthorized access at GMO Internet Group has prompted NHK to publish guidance on preventing secondary harm from data leaks and an explainer on why such breaches keep occurring.