Saitama Governor Motohiro Ono said GMO Internet Group must live up to its corporate responsibility after a cloud service run by a group company was hit by unauthorized access, telling a regular press conference on Wednesday that he wants the company to explain itself to the public.
"I understand the situation is serious, but I want the company to fulfill its responsibility properly," Ono said. He described GMO as "one of our country's infrastructure" in the network security field, adding that "this is not a matter of damage to a single company."
"I strongly hope they carry out a swift response and explain the situation to the public," he said.
A ¥2.8bn arena deal
The breach has landed while Saitama is deep into a partnership with the group. In March the prefecture signed a six-year naming rights contract for Saitama Super Arena with GMO Internet Group, a value-up naming rights partnership worth ¥2.8 billion in total.
The arena is under renovation. A music festival is scheduled for next April as the opening event under its new name, GMO Arena Saitama.
At a press conference in March, GMO representative Masatoshi Kumagai said the company wanted to "raise the group's brand image" through the arena. The unauthorized access struck a service provided by a group company in the months since.
Ono said the naming contract had not been raised for change. "It is packaged with things like robot development, but I have not heard any talk of wanting to alter it or end it," he said.
“I understand the situation is serious, but I want the company to fulfill its responsibility properly.”Motohiro Ono, governor of Saitama