Tokyo

A former technical support staff member of major Japanese information security firm Trend Micro Inc. has stolen overseas customer information and sold it to a third party, according to the company’s announcement.

Of the users of products of Trend Micro targeted at individual customers outside Japan, those who have made inquiries to the company, totaling up to 120,000, had their information leaked by the former employee who worked at an overseas base of the firm.

The leaked information included the customers’ names, email addresses and phone numbers. Trend Micro said customers using products sold in Japan for individual users are unaffected.

The information leakage came to light after a customer reported to the company in late August this year about having received a phone call from an apparent imposter who pretended to be a Trend Micro worker and recommended a paid support contract.

Trend Micro has already dismissed the employee in question and is conducting a probe into the case in cooperation with investigative authorities.

Jiji Press