Nihon Kotsu internal systems infected with malware due to unauthorized access ☎️ Taxi dispatch via phone suspended 🚘 Hire car web reservation and ordering system suspended 🖥️ Some internal systems suspended 🔒 Internal network shut down

🚨 Now it's the taxi industry

Nihon Kotsu has announced that its internal systems have been infected with malware due to unauthorized access.

The current situation is as follows:

Impact

• ☎️ Taxi dispatch via phone suspended

• 🚘 Hire car web reservation and ordering system suspended

• 🖥️ Some internal systems suspended

• 🔒 Internal network shut down

On the other hand,

• 📱 Dispatch via the GO app remains available as usual

• No information leakage has been confirmed at this time

they state.

Looking at just the last few days...

Cyberattacks are occurring one after another, regardless of the industry.

Industry Main Cases Main Impact Food/Logistics Nichirei Shipment suspension/Supermarket shortages Electronic Components Murata Manufacturing Group Personal information leakage Education Fukuoka University Possibility of student information leakage Transportation Nihon Kotsu Dispatch service suspension

It is clear that the targets of attacks are spreading to food, education, manufacturing, and transportation.

An interesting point is that "GO" did not stop.

In this incident, while internal systems were suspended, dispatch via the GO app continued.

As a possible factor for this,

• the systems were separated

• Network segmentation functioned

• The impact was limited through prompt isolation measures

and so on.

Of course, since the detailed system configuration has not been disclosed, these are general possibilities.

Common Lessons

In this series of incidents,

• logistics suspension at Nichirei

• phone dispatch suspension at Nihon Kotsu

andthe fact that 'shutting down systems' leads to the suspension of social servicesare commonalities.

On the other hand, the fact that Nihon Kotsu was able to quickly isolate its network and maintain dispatching via GO is an example of efforts to limit damage.

What has become clear from the 2026 cyberattacks

Summarizing the incidents of the past few days,

• 🏭 Food logistics

• 🚕 Transportation

• 🎓 Universities

• 🏢 Manufacturing

• 🛒 Retail

incidents are continuing in sectors that support social infrastructure.

The motives for the attacks vary, including financial ransomware, information theft, and business disruption, but what they have in common is thatin a society where digitalization has advanced, system shutdowns lead directly to the suspension of services in the real worldis the point.

Therefore, in the future, it will become increasingly important for companies and operators with high public utility to not only implement measures to prevent intrusion but also to establish 'designs that do not stop critical services' and 'rapid recovery systems' assuming that intrusion will occur.

📰 The Achilles' heel of our digital society has been struck! Infrastructure paralyzed by Nihon Kotsu malware infection

The vulnerability called 'convenience,' and the wave of cyberattacks on essential life infrastructure

It has been revealed that major taxi operator 'Nihon Kotsu' suffered unauthorized access by a third party, leading to a malware infection of its internal systems. As a result, telephone-based dispatch requests have been suspended, and the web booking system for hire cars has also ceased operation. The company has urgently disconnected its internal network to prevent further spread of the damage.

At first glance, it may seem that major panic was avoided because the alternative dispatch app 'GO' remained operational. However, in just the last few days, we have seen the suspension of logistics at Nichirei, personal information leaks at the Murata Manufacturing Group, and data breaches at educational institutions—infrastructure that supports the 'everyday life' of citizens is being targeted one after another.

🔍 Japan: The (self-proclaimed) Digital Advanced Nation

• The terror of being 'connected':As a result of all services being linked via a network, a malware infection on just a single server can instantly bring the real, physical world of logistics, transportation, and education to a halt.

• The fact that 'GO' worked was not a miracle, but the benefit of 'isolation walls':This time, even though Nihon Kotsu's telephone dispatch died, dispatching via 'GO' was maintained because the systems were separated from the start. This paradoxically proves just how dangerous 'unplanned centralization,' where all systems are easily combined into a single network, truly is.

• The lack of 'resilience' (flexible recovery) that assumes intrusion:The security myth that 'it's fine because we have a firewall' is now a relic of the past. What is required in the coming era is not prevention, but a cold, hard design philosophy that assumes 'intrusion is inevitable, so how do we minimize damage and survive with only partial functionality?'

⚡ 'A society where a single system failure leaves everyone unable to do anything on their own'

It's time to wake up.

The true nature of the 'DX (Digital Transformation)' we are shouting about is a one-way ticket to 'a society where a single system failure leaves everyone unable to do anything on their own'.

Digitization, efficiency, paperless... behind those sweet-sounding terms, companies have been cutting 'physical backups (such as manual human labor or spare telephone lines)' to reduce costs. What has been the result?

Once the system goes down, adults carrying the banner of major corporations are left wandering, not knowing 'how to run taxis' or 'how to ship goods,' and in the end, they are forced to beg for help from the ultra-analog human judgment and action of 'hailing a taxi on the street' just like in the Showa era.

It is not the case that 'it is safe and secure because we installed a system.' We have simply been deferring 'invisible, massive risks' and are now paying the price for continuing to run away from the most expensive and non-profitable infrastructure investment: security.

The inconvenient truth exposed by Nihon Kotsu's system shutdown: cyberattacks destroying taxi dispatch and logistics! What are the ironclad rules of network segmentation that protected the GO app from the threat of malware infection, and what is the fatal Achilles' heel invited by the digital dependence of a DX society?