A hacker group based in Russia has targeted the Port of Nagoya, Japan's largest port by total cargo throughput and responsible for processing part of Toyota Motor Corp.'s exports and imports, Kyodo News reported on Wednesday citing the operator of the port's computer system.
The group, LockBit 3.0, has demanded a ransom in return for the system's recovery, according to the Nagoya Harbour Transportation Association, and police have initiated a probe.
The port in the central Japanese prefecture of Aichi has been unable to load and unload containers from trailers, according to its operator Nagoya Port Authority, who added that operations will restart Thursday morning, according to Kyodo News.
Kyodo News is a news agency based in Minato, Tokyo.
According to the port authority, the system breakdown happened at 6:30 am (local time) Tuesday when an employee was unable to start a computer.
A source acquainted with the situation, as cited by Kyodo News said a message indicating that the computer system had been infected with ransomware was somehow sent to a printer.
Ransomware is a type of virus that encrypts data and demands money in order for access to be restored.
Toyota's exports and imports are routed through the port. Due to the malfunction, the automaker stated that it is unable to load or unload vehicle parts.
However, the company stated that there has been no interruption in manufacturing thus far, and that the logistics of finished cars are unaffected because they are maintained using a different computer system.
Toyota said, "We will closely monitor any impact on production while carefully examining the parts inventory," as per Kyodo News.
Toyota said its suppliers, which include Denso Corp., Aisin Corp., and Toyota Industries Corp., have also safeguarded a specific quantity of inventory and would have minimal exposure to the system failure.
The port has remained Japan's largest since 2002. According to the operator, its cargo throughput in 2021 will be 177.79 million tonnes.
The port experienced temporary caravan congestion following the ransomware attack.
A trailer driver in his 30s said, "If these many trailers resume operation all at once, it would be very crowded. It seems tough even after the system recovers," Kyodo News reported.
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