Japan gov’t websites hit by suspected pro-Russia hackers

Tokyo, Sep 7 (EFE).- More than 20 websites managed by the Japanese government were inaccessible for hours until early Wednesday due to a cyber attack suspected to have been carried out by a pro-Russia hacker group.

Top government spokesperson Hirokazu Matsuno said Wednesday that since the evening of the previous day, 23 websites managed by four ministerial entities, including interior, education, the digital agency and a tax portal were temporarily inaccessible, but added that access was restored at night.

When asked about the incident during a press conference hours later, he said that measures were being taken to strengthen their security while adding that no information leak has been detected so far.

The portals, including a webpage of the Imperial Household Agency, suffered a DDoS attack which Matsuno said is difficult to prevent.

Efforts are underway to ensure that, in the event of another attack, access can be regained as soon as possible, he added.

DDoS is a common cyberattack tactic that involves trying to overwhelm a website or service with a large volume of traffic from diverse sources.

Pro-Russia hacking group Killnet claimed responsibility for the cyberattack in a Telegram post shortly after the websites went down.

Matsuno said the government was aware of the announcement but was still investigating the cause of the incident, including the group’s potential involvement.

Killnet is believed to be behind a series of recent cyberattacks on government websites of countries that have shown support for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February. EFE

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