Japan's GMO Internet Group calls on the government to introduce cyber defense measures

Japanese IT services provider GMO Internet Group said it is dealing with the fallout from a hacking incident and has asked the government to invoke active cyber defense measures. Earlier this week, GMO disclosed that its foreign exchange trading service had been illegally accessed, with customer information stolen; some customers reported transactions on their accounts that they did not initiate. In a statement released on Saturday, the company said it has asked government agencies to take the lead, under "active cyber defense" authority, in locating and removing the attackers' infrastructure and blocking the intrusion channels. GMO said: Transnational professional hacker groups are stealing people's assets, and it is difficult to eradicate such threats through corporate efforts alone.