Nikkei disclosed two account-compromise incidents that affected employees, business contacts, and some journalistic-source communications. In the more recent case, an attacker took over a Microsoft 365 account and on September 30 sent about 9,000 phishing emails linking to malicious sites to internal and external contacts, including sources; recipients' names, email addresses, and some email contents may have been exposed. Nikkei also said a separate Google Workspace account was accessed starting in late July, potentially exposing names and email addresses for 1,646 employees and business partners.
Why it matters: This matters because attackers used a trusted media company's real account to target contacts and potentially expose source-related communications. Anyone who received messages from Nikkei around September 30 should treat them as suspicious and delete them, while organizations should review Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace account security and monitor for follow-on phishing.
Sergiu Gatlan
2026.10.06
99% relevant
This article is a direct report of the same Nikkei incidents: a late-July Google Workspace account compromise exposing names and email addresses of 1,646 employees and business partners, and a September Microsoft 365 account compromise used to send 9,000 phishing emails to staff and interviewees.
2026.10.05
100% relevant
This article establishes a new story because it is the first cited report of Nikkei's newly disclosed 2026 Microsoft 365 phishing-account compromise and separate Google Workspace breach affecting contacts and journalistic-source communications.
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