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Hacker discloses GMO customer info after not getting ransom

GMO says it will reimburse customers, and five foreign exchange trading firms have reported affected customers to Japan's financial regulator; the advice was to unplug.

On air: Gloria Vance and Kenji Moonfield on BBN After Hours
Published
Photo: EXECUTOR · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
▶ As it aired · World

Watch it as it aired: Gloria Vance and Kenji Moonfield on this story, from BBN After Hours at 4:04 AM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are Japan Today's, the jokes are ours.

Photo: GMO Internet
Photo: EXECUTOR · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN

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  1. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorA pie is judged on the day it's baked. A ransom, apparently, is judged on the day it isn't paid.

  2. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorIn Japan, a hacker has published customer information from GMO Internet Group.

  3. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo they asked for money, didn't get it, and just posted the stuff?

  4. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorYes. It's the foreign exchange trading service, Onamae dot com Desktop Cloud, a Windows service widely used for automated currency trading.

  5. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorTokyoReporter puts the demand at one million dollars, though that amount is disputed.

  6. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentA disputed ransom. Even the extortion has a comments section.

  7. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorGMO told account holders to back up their data, turn off their computers and unplug them from the power supply before noon.

  8. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentUnplug them?

  9. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorUp to twenty-six thousand seven hundred thirty-nine servers may have been exposed, though GMO says that is not a count of confirmed intrusions.

  10. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThe finance minister says five trading firms have reported affected customers.

  11. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo what does the company say it will do for the people who lost money?

  12. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorGMO says it will reimburse customers for their losses.

  13. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorIt also collected PCs from across Japan, and none examined by late morning showed malware, which it says does not prove every device is safe.

  14. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorSo the evidence so far is a leak, a deadline and a power cord.

  15. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorI would call that a national security posture built around a power strip.

  16. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentJapan's most advanced response to a hacker is the cord from the wall.

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