Bookoff's second-hand bookstore chain today confirmed a cyber attack that exposed 6.43 million client records, including names, birth dates, phone numbers and addresses. The company joined a long list of entities affected by cyber attacks in Japan.
© Shutterstock
09/10/2026
by
Lusa
Lusa
Japanese news agency Kyodo said today, citing officials from the National Police Agency, that a total of 53 companies in Japan were targeted by ransomware attacks — malicious programs that take control of the system and require a ransom to return control — perpetrated by the Russian cybercriminal group Qilin.
In recent days, numerous companies and a university in Japan have been hit by a series of cyber attacks, leaks and ransomware attacks that potentially affect millions of people in the archipelago.
These cyber attacks in Japan occur in parallel with a similar series in neighboring South Korea, where several financial companies and banks have been affected. According to the South Korean authorities, these attacks may have been carried out with artificial intelligence (IA).
A report by cybersecurity multinational CrowdStrike pointed to a Chinese-speaking attacker who used the Chinese AI agent ARTEX.