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Japan’s largest port halts operations due to cyberattack

Tokyo, Jul 6 (EFE).- The port of Nagoya, the largest in Japan in loading and unloading, and responsible for exports of important Japanese companies, suffered a cyberattack on its system and was still unable to resume operating Thursday morning.

The port of departure for exports from companies including car maker Toyota, the facility experienced a glitch Tuesday detected by an employee when he was unable to turn on a computer, local port authorities said.

A printer connected to this system printed a notice reading “Lockbit” indicating that the system was infected with “ransomware,” a type of malicious program that demands a reward to restore access to computer data, according to the same source detailed to the public channel NHK.

“Lockbit” is a type of “ransomware” that encrypts files and changes their names and adds a ransom note to the desktop asking for payment and threatening to share the data on the web if it is not done. This program has often been associated with hackers from Russia or similar countries.

“Today, the risk of cyber attacks is increasing, so we consider it important to increase computer defenses and improve resilience in Japan’s infrastructure,” Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said at a press conference Thursday.

Nagoya port authorities are working to restore the system and expect to be able to resume container loading and unloading operations from noon.

In March, Japanese vehicle manufacturer Toyota had to stop production at its factories after a cyberattack on one of its suppliers.

This attack occurred shortly after several countries warned of the possibility of Russia carrying out attacks of this type on targets of countries that have supported the sanctions against it for its invasion of Ukraine.

Japan has joined punitive measures against Moscow launched by G7 countries and the European Union, including the exclusion of Russian banks from the international Swift system or the freezing of assets of Russian entities and individuals. EFE

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