Press Release

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Computer Virus Infection Investigation Results

March 27, 2012 (JST)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency would like to advise about our investigation results into a computer virus infection that was published in a press release dated Jan. 13.

We found that the following two pieces of information were leaked due to the virus infection, but, fortunately, no classified information was included. We also confirmed that no unauthorized access was made.

The leaked information was:

  1. Information and data that were stored in the infected computer, and screen information that was displayed while the said employee was working on the computer. We confirmed that no classified data was stored in the computer. Also no sensitive data on the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), a cargo transporter to the International Space Station, regarding its specifications or operation-related information was searched or displayed on the computer while it was infected by the virus.
  2. System log-in information that was accessed from the computer.
    Concerning the system log-in information, the ID/password that was used by the said employee was immediately changed. We also checked all the accessible systems including the NASA system, and found that no one other than the said employee accessed the system. Therefore, we concluded that there was no unauthorized access while the computer was infected.

We earlier advised that there may be a leak of e-mail addresses (about 1,000 of them) in a press release on Jan. 13, but we were not able to clarify the leak of each e-mail address. However, we have sent our sincere apologies to all the mail address holders and also ask them to pay special alert.

Infection cause

We found that an e-mail with a new virus was sent on July 6, 2011, to the JAXA employee who did not update the computer OA software, and, as he opened the e-mail on that computer, it was infected by the virus. We have already taken countermeasures to prevent this in the future.
We take this incident very seriously, and would like to further strengthen our security measures.