Some of the nation's major firms have reported being victims of data leaks over the past five years either because of cyberattacks or as former employees and others willfully took company data out with them, a Kyodo News survey showed Saturday.
The survey, which followed the nation's biggest-ever data theft at educational service provider Benesse Holdings Inc., points to the risk of data leaks major Japanese firms face today, with the potential for damage to fair competition among companies and for putting the privacy of many customers at risk.
A former chief of the Japan Patent Office said more companies could have fallen victim to similar data leaks, calling for companies to look thoroughly into the possibility that they too have had their data compromised.