Panasonic Admits Suffering a Second Cyber Attack in 6 Months With Conti Ransomware Gang Claiming Responsibility

Japanese tech company Panasonic disclosed that it was the victim of a “targeted cyber attack” on its Canadian operations. According to malware analysis group VX Underground, the Conti ransomware group claimed responsibility for the attack. The group claims to have stolen 2.8 gigabytes of data from Panasonic Canada.

The February attack was the second to devastate the company within six months. In November 2021, Panasonic Japan disclosed that a third party had breached its network and accessed files on its servers.

The company disclosed in January 2022 that the attack leaked the personal information of job candidates and interns.

According to the Japanese media outlet NHK, the illegal access lasted from June to November 2021.

Similarly, Panasonic Corporation India suffered a cyber attack in December 2020, leaking 4 GB of financial information.

Conti ransomware group leaks files allegedly stolen from Panasonic

Conti ransomware group started sharing allegedly stolen documents on its leak site. The dump includes files and spreadsheets reportedly stolen from the HR and accounting departments. Some of the documents had names like “HR Global Database” and “Budget.”

Panasonic hasn’t disclosed the hacking group’s identity or ransomware demands, the intrusion method, the nature of the information stolen, or the number of potential victims.

However, the company says the attack affected the Canadian operation, which employs 400 people and is part of the North American segment.

Panasonic spokesperson Airi Minobe told TechCrunch that the company “took immediate action to address the issue with assistance from cybersecurity experts and our service providers.”

Its response “included identifying the scope of impact, containing the malware, cleaning and restoring servers, rebuilding applications and communicating rapidly with affected customers and relevant authorities.” This description perfectly resembles a ransomware attack response.

Minobe added that efforts to restore operations were still in progress, although the top priority was to mitigate the impacts of the suspected Conti ransomware attack.

“Since confirming this attack, we have worked diligently to restore operations and…