Daiichi Kosho: contractor malware put 8.7 million records at risk
Malware on a contractor's computer put records for about 8,631,000 customers and 93,000 employees at risk. Daiichi Kosho's own systems were not breached.
What happened
Daiichi Kosho, Japan's largest karaoke operator (Big Echo), said malware was found on an employee computer at Nippon Columbia Group, the contractor that handles its customer data. The malware was found on October 1–2 and the computer was isolated on October 2; the contractor reported the incident to Daiichi Kosho on October 5. Daiichi Kosho's own systems were not breached.
Who is affected
Records for about 8,631,000 customers and 93,000 employees were stored on the machine: full names, genders, dates of birth, email addresses, and telephone numbers. Passwords were not included. The company says it has not confirmed any data theft or leak — this is a potential exposure, not a confirmed theft.
How serious
No data theft or leak has been confirmed, so this risk is potential, not realised. If the records were taken, full names, dates of birth, email addresses and telephone numbers together would support targeted phishing and impersonation — messages or calls that know who you are and ask for payments or personal or financial information. Passwords were not included in the records.
What to do now
If you have used Daiichi Kosho brands such as Big Echo, treat unsolicited email, texts, or calls asking for payments or personal or financial information as suspect, and verify through official channels.
Source: BleepingComputer