The Defense Ministry admitted that a hack on Mitsubishi Electric Corp. in June 2019 compromised data that was the first publicly acknowledged leak of sensitive national security information in Japan.

Axar.az reports that nearly 20,000 files were accessed by the ministry, which released its findings on December 24 in its investigation of the 59 cases. It added that it has taken measures to address sabotage of this nature and issued a verbal warning to Mitsubishi Electric, a leading electronics equipment maker, deeply involved in defense, infrastructure, and transportation projects.

The company was recently in the news for sloppy testing of various equipment that resulted in disciplinary action against 12 current and former executives.

Asahi Shimbun broke the January 2020 report on the cyberattack, and Mitsubishi Electric officials suspected a Chinese hacking group. The Defense Ministry acknowledged that the incident involved three cases of a sensitive nature related to defense equipment.