Japanese nuclear research lab target of cyber-espionage

According to The Japan Times, the unknown hackers have penetrated the network of the University of Toyama’s Hydrogen Isotope Research Center, one of the world leaders in researching on tritium which is the important fuel for controlled nuclear fusion and a key component of hydrogen bombs. According to the investigation, the attackers have stolen research information as well as personal data of about 1500 researchers, thanks to the malware infection using a spear-phishing emails, tracked down to November 2015. Among other information, the attackers managed to obtain the research documents related to data related to removing contaminated water discharged from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, and was particularly interested in documents containing IAEA – the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency – as one of the keywords. The university, however, stated that most of the stolen data have already been public and there was no highly confidential information compromised.