Casio admits network breach, reveals systems shut down

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There's no suggestion of any sensitive data being stolen

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Casio has confirmed suffering a cyberattack that forced it to shut down parts of its infrastructure.

In a short announcement published on its Japanese website, the company said it spotted the intrusion on October 5, 2024.

“After conducting an internal investigation, it was determined that the unauthorized access had caused a system failure, resulting in the inability to provide some services,” a rough translation of the announcement reads.

Adversary in the middle

After realizing it was breached, the company restricted outside access, reported the incident to relevant authorities, and brought in a third-party security firm to investigate. It is currently checking to see if the attackers stole any personal information, or otherwise important files.

While shutting down infrastructure and looking for stolen files all point to this being a ransomware attack, Casio has made no such claims yet. Also, no ransomware groups have yet claimed responsibility for the attack, BleepingComputer reports. Casio also did not say which parts of its network were forced offline, or who the attackers are.

This is not the first time Casio was forced to fend off cyberattackers. Roughly a year ago, the company confirmed threat actors accessed a database containing sensitive customer information.

“As the company continued to analyze the situation, it was additionally confirmed that, on the evening of Thursday, October 12, the personal information of some residents of countries other than Japan was accessed,” the company said at the time.

The data that the hackers obtained includes customer names, email addresses, countries of residence, service usage details, and purchase information such as payment methods, license codes, and order specifics. No credit card or other payment data was accessed, as it wasn’t stored in the database.

Casio is a Japanese multinational company known for its wide range of electronics, including calculators, watches, musical instruments, and cameras. It gained global recognition for its innovative products, like the world's first electronic calculator. Casio is also renowned for its G-Shock and digital watches.

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Sead Fadilpašić

Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.