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Japan’s ruling political party has reportedly suffered a cyber attack that disabled its website, just as the nation’s general election campaign commenced.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan’s website was hit by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack just as the 12-day general election campaign began, during which members of the nation’s House of Representatives are elected.
The LDP’s website was not the only one impacted, according to reports, with other state government entities, such as local government websites, also having their websites disabled.
According to Recorded Future, the attack was claimed by a number of pro-Russian hackers in response to a major joint military exercise between Japan and the US that is set to take place later in the month.
The exercise will take place in areas close to the Russian border, something the Kremlin has already warned against, promising “adequate countermeasures”.
Threat actors the Cyber Army of Russia and NoName057(16) claimed to be behind the attack, adding that they had targeted a number of organisations and agencies, including financial services, shipbuilding services, and more.
“We are punishing Russophobic Japan and reminding them that any actions against Russia can end badly,” said NoName057(16) in a statement seen by Recorded Future.
According to Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiko Aoki, the country is aware of the claims and has notified the country’s counter-cyber crime agencies, launched security measures and begun an investigation into the breach, adding that actions that compromise the democratic process of the country “will never be tolerated by any organisation, group, or individual in Japan”.
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