Panasonic confirms data breach, probing cyber attack

Japanese consumer electronics company Panasonic has confirmed that its network was illegally accessed by a third party on November 11.

While no other information was provided by the company, Japanese publications Mainichi and NHK claimed that the breach actually started on June 22 and ended on November 3.

NHK reported that the attacked servers stored information about Panasonic business partners and the company's technology.

Panasonic, however, said in a statement that as the result of an internal investigation, it was determined that some data on a file server had been accessed during the intrusion.

"After detecting the unauthorised access, the company immediately reported the incident to the relevant authorities and implemented security countermeasures, including steps to prevent external access to the network," Panasonic added.

In addition to conducting its own investigation, Panasonic said it is currently working with a specialist third-party organisation to investigate the leak and determine if the breach involved customers' personal information and/or sensitive information related to social infrastructure.

The Japanese company had signed a pact with cyber security company McAfee in March to create a security operations centre focused on cyberattacks.

"We cannot predict whether it will affect our business or business performance, but we cannot deny the possibility of a serious incident," Panasonic told Mainichi publication.