ZACROS Ransomware Nightmare: 157K Personal Records Exposed in Major Data Breach

Incident

In January 2025, ZACROS Corporation (formerly Fujimori Kogyo Co., Ltd.), a leading packaging materials manufacturer, revealed that it had suffered a ransomware attack potentially exposing approximately 157,203 pieces of personal information.

Overview of the Attack
On September 14, 2024, the company confirmed that a ransomware attack had encrypted several servers critical to its production management and core business systems. A task force was immediately formed to assess the breach, investigate potential data leakage, and initiate recovery measures with support from external experts.

Details of the Leaked Information

Affected Parties:

1. Business Partners and Associates: Approximately 143,718 individuals may have had their names, company affiliations, titles, business addresses, telephone numbers, and business email addresses compromised.
2. Company Executives, Employees, and Their Families: For roughly 13,485 individuals, sensitive data such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, gender, basic pension numbers, insurer numbers, and national identification numbers may have been exposed.

Attackers' Claims
The cybercriminal group known as Argonauts has declared that they have stolen 140 GB of data from ZACROS. According to their website, they are selling the data after the company reportedly refused to pay the ransom. However, the accuracy of these claims has yet to be independently verified.

Company Response and Future Prevention Measures
Upon discovering the breach, ZACROS promptly reported the incident to the appropriate authorities. The company is collaborating with external experts to determine the full extent of the damage and has committed to taking robust measures to prevent future attacks. These measures include:

1. Enhancing overall security protocols and infrastructure.
2. Strengthening employee cybersecurity training to mitigate human error.
3. Implementing stricter network monitoring and incident response strategies.

Conclusion
The ransomware attack on ZACROS has potentially resulted in a significant data breach affecting business partners, employees, and their families. As cyber threats continue to escalate, the incident serves as a stark reminder for companies to prioritize information security and ensure robust defenses against future attacks.

References:

• Official Website