Report by Shuchi Giridhar
The Japanese Aeronautics Exploration Agency seems to have experienced a series of Cyberattacks even as hackers failed to access important information on satellites and rockets. The attack seems to have taken place during the summer. JAXA got to know of the attack when an organization contacted the internal audit.
Who is suspected to have done it?
A group in China called Blacktech is the main suspect. During September 2023, Japan and the US jointly warned global corporations of the group Blacktech, which is linked to China. This group is capable of modifying router firmware (the software that controls the security and features of your router) without detection, messing with the router domain-trust relationship (administration and communication link between two domains) to go from international branches to headquarters in Japan and the US. Governments and tech-sector companies in the United States and East Asia have been experiencing Cyberattacks from Blacktech since around 2010.
Has China previously attacked Japan?
Yes, this has taken place before too. Many cyberattacks on Japan’s National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity (NISC) took place in August. The group found responsible were China-backed hackers who had started a months-long cyberattacks campaign. They seemed to have acquired sensitive information for as much as nine months, starting in June last year.
Why is this cyberattack so significant?
JAXA has said that there was a possibility of unauthorised access by exploiting the vulnerability of network equipment. JAXA supports aerospace development and utilization for the Japanese Government. It researches space and aeronautics. If the attack was successful this information could have been held against the Japanese government or leaked and misused. But fortunately, the hackers were unable to access any sensitive information.
What is the reason for the hack?
Japan has become a target for hackers since it is deepening its ties with the US and other countries. Both the US and the UK have expressed concerns about Japan’s ability to safely handle data.