Nikkei discloses breach of employee email accounts at Google and Microsoft

Japanese publishing giant Nikkei has disclosed that unknown attackers recently breached two employee email accounts and used one of them to send thousands of phishing emails. The company issued its statement on Sunday.

Two incidents

The first case occurred in late July, when outsiders gained access to an employee's Google Workspace account. Nikkei discovered the breach in early August — after a notification from Google — and changed the password. The incident may have exposed the names and email addresses of 1,646 individuals, though the company says the affected data does not concern readers or interviewees.

The second case dates to September, when attackers accessed another employee's Microsoft 365 account and used it to send 9,000 phishing emails to Nikkei staff and people the company had previously interviewed. "On September 30^th, emails containing links to malicious websites were sent to internal staff and to interviewees with whom several employees had been in contact," the company said. Passwords were changed, no unauthorized logins have been confirmed since, and recipients were asked to delete the emails.

Nikkei warned affected individuals to watch for new phishing attacks in which the perpetrators may impersonate the company or its subsidiaries. The attacks have not yet been attributed to any specific group, and it is unclear whether the two incidents are connected.

Not the first time

These are only the latest in a string of incidents Nikkei has disclosed in recent years. Last year the company revealed a breach of its Slack messaging platform affecting more than 17,000 employees and business partners. In May 2022, Nikkei's Singapore subsidiary was hit by a ransomware attack affecting a server that "likely" contained customer data. And in late September 2019, the company lost roughly $29 million in a business email compromise (BEC) attack targeting a Nikkei America employee.

Nikkei owns the Financial Times and The Nikkei — the world's largest financial newspaper — and ranks among the largest media corporations in the world. The group controls more than 40 affiliated companies, maintains 37 foreign editorial bureaus with over 1,500 journalists worldwide, and has more than 3.7 million digital paid subscriptions.

Source: Bleeping Computer