SoftBank Corp.

Cyberattacks are mounting across Japan and South Korea, forcing governments and companies to respond urgently. In Japan, unauthorized access has surged broadly across industries, hitting financial firms such as Daiwa Securities and Sompo Japan, retailers including Bookoff Group Holdings and Lawson, the restaurant chain Yakiniku King, and car-sharing operator Times Mobility. The impact was especially severe at IDC Frontier, a SoftBank subsidiary in the cloud business, where the attack left 495 contracted companies and local governments unable to view their websites or exposed their data. In South Korea, nine banks and large churches suffered cyberattacks that may have used AI tools, and U.S. cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said a 26-year-old suspect living in China most likely could not have carried out the attack without AI assistance. According to TrendAI, cybersecurity incidents involving organizations based in Japan from January through September this year have already surpassed the total for all of last year, with 86 cases in September, up about 18 percent from August and about 37 percent from July. Experts warn that the spread of AI is making it easier even for criminals without advanced skills to launch attacks, making cybercrime cheaper and more accessible.

East Japan Railway Company announced on the 9th that more than 2 million members' information from its ticket reservation and travel support services "Eki-net" and "Otona no Kyujitsu Club" may have been leaked due to unauthorized access to a cloud service operated by a SoftBank subsidiary. Approximately 1.67 million email addresses of Eki-net members may have been compromised, while about 390,000 records from Otona no Kyujitsu Club, including membership numbers and credit card expiration dates, may have been leaked. Names, addresses, phone numbers, and credit card numbers were not included. In addition, email distribution to members of both services has been partially disrupted. IDC Frontier, the SoftBank subsidiary, suffered a ransomware attack on part of the systems of its cloud service "IDCF Cloud," affecting a wide range of contracted companies and local governments.

IDC Frontier, a SoftBank subsidiary that provides cloud services, announced on the 7th that it suffered unauthorized access by a third party, causing an outage in its IDCF Cloud service for municipalities and businesses. The outage occurred around 3:40 a.m. that day, leaving some services unavailable. The company said it received an external ransomware attack, and the cloud management platform automatically executed a shutdown. The company has not disclosed details of its service customers, but numerous websites, including those of Ibaraki Prefecture, the city of Kodaira in Tokyo, Jiji Press, and Tobu Zoo, became impossible to view or update. To prevent secondary damage and data leaks, the company has cut off its network and is working to identify the detailed intrusion route while rushing to set up an alternative environment.

Oracle has sent a force majeure notice to Stack Infrastructure, the developer of the massive New Mexico data center known as Project Jupiter, as it seeks to protect itself financially if the facility is delayed. Oracle is the main tenant of the project, which is being developed by Stack Infrastructure, a portfolio company of Blue Owl Capital, and is designed for 2.45 gigawatts of capacity, making it one of the larger facilities tied to the broader Stargate AI infrastructure buildout involving Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank. According to Bloomberg, Oracle wants to defer payments if the site misses its planned 2028 opening, though it remains unclear whether the notice would release Oracle from any existing financial obligations. About 20 banks provided an $18 billion loan to support development of the campus, meaning any extended delay could affect more than just Oracle's occupancy timeline. The market reaction was immediate: Oracle shares fell about 4% in premarket trading, Blue Owl dropped roughly 4%, Bloom Energy, whose fuel cells are expected to help power the site, fell 5%, and SoftBank shares declined about 6%.

Mobile phone service disruptions and temporary closures of convenience stores and gas stations continued on the 29th following the earthquake that registered a maximum seismic intensity of 7 in Kumamoto Prefecture. NTT Docomo, KDDI, SoftBank, and Rakuten Mobile reported that calls and data services remain unavailable in parts of the prefecture due to power outages at base stations and transmission line failures, with no timeline for restoration. Major convenience store operators Seven-Eleven Japan, Lawson, and FamilyMart have temporarily closed a total of over 100 stores in the prefecture due to power outages and worsening road conditions, and are rushing to resume operations while providing relief supplies to disaster victims. According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, 18 gas stations in the affected areas had suspended operations as of 1 p.m. on the 29th, with another 101 stations under status confirmation, impacted by the suspension of shipments from two oil terminals in Yatsushiro City. Japan Post has halted all counter services and Yu-Pack parcel handling in the prefecture, and Nippon Express has also suspended cargo acceptance and collection and delivery across wide areas of the prefecture.

NTT Docomo, KDDI, SoftBank and two other mobile carriers announced on the 8th that they are postponing the introduction of phone numbers starting with 060. The launch had been planned for July or later, but system adaptations such as on-device display are taking longer than expected. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is urging the carriers to start the service within this fiscal year. As the number of mobile users grows, the existing 090, 080 and 070 number ranges are running low. To prepare for number exhaustion, the ministry revised regulations in December 2024 to make the 060 prefix available.