Disaster info service halted in parts of Japan over data breach fears

TOKYO - The communications ministry said Wednesday disaster information services have been halted in parts of Japan amid fears of a personal data breach due to unauthorized access to a service provider's system.

As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications received reports of service suspension or possible personal data leakage from 110 local governments. It has asked Arcadia Inc., which transmits early warning and disaster information by e-mail, telephone and other means as a local government service, to report on the damage.

A number of local governments, such as Yokote, Akita Prefecture and Kagawa Prefecture, announced that they have suspended the services. Arcadia, based in Minoo, Osaka Prefecture, told Kyodo News Wednesday that the timeline of recovery remained unknown.

The company has said it detected suspicious access to its service system called "SpeeCAN RAIDEN" on Sunday.

A total of 875 local governments used the service as of late September, with the company suspecting up to 3.14 million addresses of residents might have leaked.

The service is also used for safety confirmation for local government employees.

The fire department-related services "NET 119" and "119 RAIDEN" also showed signs of unauthorized access, according to the company.

These services are used by fire departments across Japan to distribute fire and disaster information simultaneously to personnel, volunteer firefighters, and media outlets.

The Shimane prefectural police said that up to approximately 16,000 email addresses registered with an information distribution system operated by Arcadia, which delivers crime prevention information and reports on fraud victims, may have been leaked.

According to investigative sources, the Hiroshima prefectural police have also discovered a potential leak involving the names, departments, and email addresses of approximately 5,700 police officers and others.

The police received a report on Tuesday of unauthorized access to its safety-confirmation system, which is used to confirm by email the safety of police officers and others during disasters and whose operation it had outsourced to Arcadia, and are currently investigating the extent of the damage.