Nikkei Discloses Breaches of Employee Microsoft and Google Email Accounts

Email Account Breaches Disclosed

Nikkei, a Japanese publishing giant, recently disclosed two separate security breaches affecting employee email accounts. The first incident involved an employee's Google Workspace account, which was accessed by unknown attackers in late July. The second breach, occurring in September, affected another employee's Microsoft 365 account.

Data Exposure and Phishing Campaign

The July breach of the Google Workspace account potentially exposed the names and email addresses of 1,646 employees and business partners. Nikkei stated that no reader or interviewee data was affected in this incident. In the September breach, the compromised Microsoft 365 account was used to send approximately 9,000 phishing emails to Nikkei staff and interviewees, containing links to malicious websites.

Company Response and Previous Incidents

Nikkei changed the passwords for the compromised accounts and contacted recipients of the phishing emails, advising them to delete the messages. The company has not attributed the attacks to specific actors or confirmed if the two incidents are connected. These breaches follow a series of security incidents for Nikkei, including a Slack platform breach in 2022, a ransomware attack on a Singapore subsidiary in 2022, and a $29 million business email compromise attack in 2019.

Impact on a Major Media Corporation

Nikkei owns the Financial Times and The Nikkei, and is a significant global media corporation with over 40 affiliated companies. The repeated security incidents highlight ongoing challenges in protecting sensitive information and employee accounts within large organizations, particularly those handling extensive personal and business data.