Japan: Hacked IoT Devices and Cryptocurrency Networks Doubled in 2018

In Japan, the number of hacked Internet of Things (IoT) devices and cryptocurrency networks nearly doubled in 2018 when compared to the previous year. English-language local media Asahi reported on March 7.

Per the report, the Japanese Police Agency data shows that an average of 2,752.8 intrusions per sensor per day were detected last year, up 45 percent from the previous year. Furthermore, the data also reportedly shows that almost all of the attacks came from overseas.

According to the article, if one considers only cryptocurrency networks and IoT devices, the data shows an average of 1,702.8 intrusions per sensor per day in 2018, which is about double the 875.9 reported in 2017. Seemingly, this isn’t part of a broader trend to attack all devices more, since the report notes:

“The number of intrusions of networks used for sending and receiving e-mail messages and browsing websites has remained at about the same level since 2016.”

The report also covers the location of the attackers, stating that 20.8 percent are located in Russia, 14.1 percent in China, 12.6 percent in the United States, 6 percent in the Netherlands and 5.1 percent in Ukraine. Attacks originating from inside Japan reportedly accounted only for 1.6 percent of the total.

As Cointelegraph reported in February, more than 7,000 cases of suspected money laundering tied to crypto were reported to Japanese police in 2018, a more than tenfold increase from the 669 cases over a nine-month period during the previous year.

Meanwhile, Cointelegraph reported that five Japanese banks have collaborated to launch a financial services infrastructure based on distributed ledger technology.