Hackers hit Hoya hard, optics company blinded by malware incident
Japanese optics maker Hoya is picking up the pieces following what it called an IT System Incident that disrupted production
Optics company Hoya has confirmed it was the victim of a network intrusion.
The Japanese optics maker said that it experienced and "IT incident" that left its factories out of service for some time.
"The day before yesterday, we learned that the Group’s head quarter and several of its business divisions have experienced an IT system incident," Hoya said.
"The Company will work closely with each of its business divisions and sites, as well as with outside experts, to identify the nature and scope of the incident and to restore the situation as soon as possible."
Hoya would go on to expand on that statement, explaining that the incident was a "system failure" but falling short of chalking the incident up to external hackers.
The company did say it was consulting "external forensic investigators" and notifying the relevant authorities.
Long story short: they got hacked.
"We immediately responded by isolating the failed servers and reported the matter to the relevant authorities in the affected countries," the optics maker explained to shareholders.
"We also engaged external forensic investigators who reported that this incident was most likely caused by unauthorized access to our servers by a third party."
The company reported that factory production was impacted in the attack, though it will not be able to place a production or number value on the incident just yet.
Hoya is declining to name any possible parties involved in the attack, though Japanese firms are often targeted by Chinese APT groups for intellectual property theft.
"While the full effects, extent and nature of the incident continue to be investigated, the systems for some production plants and the ordering system for several products have been affected. The Company is making every effort to respond to customer demand and minimize the impact on our customers to the greatest extent possible," Hoya said in a follow-up statement on the incident.
"We are also investigating whether any confidential or personal information held by the Company has been compromised or accessed by third parties, but the full analysis is expected to take a considerable number of days."
