TOKYO: An internal network of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, has been hit by unauthorized access, it was learned Wednesday.

The government-affiliated space agency is investigating details of the cyberattack, including a possible leak of information, JAXA sources said, while noting that coming under the cyberattack was an administrative server for its general operations and that information needed for rocket operations is not included in the server.

According to the JAXA sources and officials of the science and technology ministry, the unauthorized access is believed to have taken advantage of a vulnerability that a network equipment manufacturer disclosed in June this year for the purpose of calling for countermeasures such as software update to be taken.

The cyberattack came to be known following a report from an external organization.

JIJI Press