Casio says recent cyberattack 'caused system failure'

A cyberattack on systems used by Japanese tech manufacturer Casio caused a system failure that resulted in some services being unavailable to customers.

The company said on Tuesday that the intrusion into its network occurred on October 5. 

“We are currently investigating the details, and an external specialist agency is also investigating to confirm whether any personal information or other important information has been leaked,” the company explained in a statement.

Almost exactly a year ago, the company said hackers accessed its education web application ClassPad.net, resulting in the leak of information from customers in 148 countries. 

Casio did not respond to a range of questions about what customer systems were knocked offline by the system failure, whether it was a ransomware attack or if the hackers identified themselves.

“After becoming aware of the unauthorized access, we promptly reported it to the relevant authorities and have implemented measures such as restricting access from outside,” the company said.

Casio reported about $440 million in sales last quarter as one of the largest producers of calculators, cameras, musical instruments, watches and more. The company has a long track record in the industry and was one of the first producers of digital watches, but has seen a decline in sales over the last decade.

In the 2023 breach, the company did not say how many people were affected but explained that 1,108 educational institution customers and an undisclosed number of individuals had more than 120,000 pieces of information leaked.

The information leaked in the October 5 incident includes customer names, email addresses, country of residence, order details, service usage information and payment methods. Credit card information was not included in the breach, the company said

Casio said 91,921 “items” belonging to customers in Japan were leaked, while 35,049 items belonging to customers from other countries were exposed. The company  did not explain what they classified as an “item.”