TOKYO, Sept. 19 (Kyodo) — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., a major manufacturer of arms for Japan's Defense Ministry, said Monday its servers and computers have been infected with viruses which may have enabled unauthorized access.
Japan's largest defense contractor said it has reported the matter to police and started in-house investigations. In a statement, Mitsubishi said it has not so far confirmed the breach of any data regarding its products and technology.
According to company officials, 45 servers and 38 computers were found infected with eight types of viruses at a total of 11 company facilities in Japan, including its headquarters in Tokyo, shipbuilding yards in Nagasaki and Kobe, and its Nagoya Guidance and Propulsion Systems Works in Aichi Prefecture, which makes missiles and rocket engines.
The company makes destroyers at the Nagasaki shipbuilding yard and submarines and nuclear power generation facilities at the Kobe shipbuilding yard.
A Mitsubishi Heavy employee noticed abnormalities with the system in mid-August, leading the company to call in outside experts. It subsequently found its servers and computers were infected with viruses which could prompt information to leak outside the company, the officials said.
The company immediately took steps to prevent the infection from spreading, they said.
