A leading Japanese matchmaking app was hacked, likely exposing the personal information of more than 1.7 million account holders, in the latest high-profile online attack.
Net Marketing Co, which runs the Omiai dating app, said that it found evidence of unauthorized access to its servers last month. Among the data exposed were photographs of ID used to confirm the age of users, including drivers’ licenses, insurance cards and passports.
Credit card data were not leaked in the hack, the firm said on Friday, adding that it had yet to confirm misappropriation of the personal information.
The Omiai app, named after the Japanese word for matchmaking, had 6.8 million accounts as of last month, according to its monthly report. While free for women, Omiai generates revenue by charging men and offers plans starting at ￥3,980 (US$36.60) for a one-month subscription.
Shares in Net Marketing slumped by the 19 percent limit at market close yesterday, the most since their listing in 2017.
The firm, which has a market value of about US$70 million, trades on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s First Section.
While Omiai primarily targets users looking for serious relationships, the leak is reminiscent of the hack of adultery Web site AshleyMadison.com in 2015, which exposed the personal data of 37 million users of the site.
Ransomware attacks have also been making headlines this month after hackers who targeted Ireland’s health service threatened to publicly release patient data, as well as following the breach of Colonial Pipeline Co in the US.
Separately, Air India Ltd also said that personal data of an unspecified number of travelers had been compromised after a company that serves India’s national carrier was hacked.
The hackers were able to access 10 years’ worth of data, including names, passport and credit card details, from the Atlanta-based SITA Passenger Service System, Air India said in a statement on Friday.
It disclosed the scale of the breach nearly three months after it was first informed by the IT provider.
The breach that happened in late February had compromised the data of some major global airlines, too.
SITA at that time had said that Singapore Airlines Ltd, Air New Zealand Ltd and Lufthansa AG were among those affected.
Air India said almost 4.5 million passengers globally were affected in the “highly sophisticated” attack, but did not specify how many of them were its travelers.
It said no password data were breached during the attack and that the company was investigating.
The company said it recommended in an e-mail to its customers that they should change their account passwords as a precaution.
Additional reporting by AP
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