IwaiCosmo Securities customers hit by unauthorized trades after Trade Works cyberattack

Osaka-based brokerage IwaiCosmo Securities Co. said on Tuesday that some of its customers had fallen victim to unauthorized trades, in what is believed to be the first case in Japan’s financial industry amid a recent wave of cyberattacks.

Buy and sell orders were placed through seven customer accounts, with transactions executed in five of them, the firm said. It has restored the affected accounts, returning each to its state before the unauthorized trades were made, and has contacted the affected customers.

The unauthorized orders followed an unauthorized access incident at Trade Works Co., which operates and maintains IwaiCosmo’s online trading system. According to the brokerage, Trade Works’ trade management system was targeted in an attack on Oct 14.

The names and email addresses of 4,975 customers were leaked in the breach, IwaiCosmo confirmed. The leaked information did not include trading passwords and cannot be used to log in to securities accounts or conduct transactions.

IwaiCosmo said its online trading system has been restored. The incident comes as Japanese firms face a sustained surge in cyberattacks, with Nikkei research reporting data breaches sweeping businesses across Japan and South Korea in recent weeks.

Sources: Kyodo News, Jiji Press via nippon.com, Nikkei Asia.