Japanese lens maker Hoya halts production after cyber attack

Japanese lens maker Hoya said the production of several of its products have stopped after a system failure, which was “most likely caused by unauthorised access” to its servers.

Hoya said the company discovered a system discrepancy in one of its overseas offices on Saturday and confirmed the disruption despite its efforts to isolate affected servers.

The company is investigating whether any of its confidential or personal data had been compromised and is cooperating with authorities to resume production as soon as possible, it said in a statement.

Hoya’s consumer eyeglass lens unit, Hoya Vision Care Co, on Tuesday apologised on its website that it had stopped taking orders for lenses due to a group-wide system failure.

Hoya is the world’s second-largest eyeglass lens maker, with about 90 percent of its eyewear lens sales earned from outside of Japan, according to its latest annual report.

A Hoya spokesperson declined to say whether any of the company’s other optical products, including components for chipmaking equipment and hard disc drives, have been affected by the disruption.

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AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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