Toyota's "weak ring" is still urgent in cyber space

In English -speaking countries, there is a saying that "the sturdiness of the chain is determined by the weakest circle."The 18th -century English philosopher Thomas Reed is said to have written in an essay.

Toyota Motor Corporation stopped operating all 14 factories in Japan on the 1st.This is due to the system failure caused by cyber attacks in the Kojima Press Industry (Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture), a resin parts manufacturer, a major business partner, and it has become unable to exchange delivery data.Kojima Press parts were used in many Toyota cars, which had a huge impact.

According to Kojima Press, the source of the attack is not yet known.I know that Toyota's huge supply chain (supply net) has been cut off by the "weakest ring" of Kojima Press.

If one company has a good deal of security measures, the entire supply chain will be in danger.This turmoil has pierced such reality to the industry.Rising information security levels is urgent.

Toyota had always shown a guideline on information security to the suppliers and tried to raise the bottom.However, it is virtually impossible to completely manage all tens of thousands of business partners, including secondary and tertiary suppliers.

In fact, cyber attacks aimed at automakers are coming one after another.In June 2020, the Honda system was infected with Ransomware (ransom -type virus), and nine factories, including the United States, stopped.In July of the same year, TMW (Inazawa City, Aichi Prefecture), which is designed and manufactured by Toyota, was damaged by cyber attacks.The publication of a part of the data called the hacker stealed was also a hot topic.

In order to protect the entire supply chain, it is unavoidable at the level of each employee.In the information security industry, there is also a saying that "people are the weakest circle."It is a phrase that the company incorporates information security equipment and services that the company incorporates information security equipment and services, and that employees who do not follow the rules and guidance of the company will be in the end.

Many people use personal terminals for their business, contrary to internal regulations, even if the company puts a virus software in the business terminal provided to employees.According to a survey by information security company trend Micro, 60 % of people use their personal smartphones and tablets for their business, despite being banned in the workplace.

Many companies are teaching employees to avoid using passwords on multiple websites.If you use it again, if your password is leaked from one site, the same password may be fraudulently accessed by the company system.Nevertheless, according to the trend micro, 80 % of the people are using passwords.

Want to be wary of cyber attacks from Russia

Toyota has resumed operation in all factories from the 2nd, but he will not be careful.This is because the tension in the cyber space is increasing over the situation in Ukraine.

The Japanese government has launched economic sanctions against Russia in line with Western countries.According to Mandiant Vice President John Hulquisto, a US information security company that is investigating the cyber attack capacity of non -friendly countries, "countries that are considered to be involved in economic sanctions may also be the target of Russia."Round the alarm bell.

At a press conference on the 1st, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroichi Matsuno said that the cyber attack on Kojima Press was "under investigation" and said, "The risk of cyber attacks is increasing due to the recent situation, including Ukraine.It may be widely influenced not only on the company you received but also on the supply chain, including business partners. "

It must be kept in mind that a giant supply chain can stop even if it is a little careless.

(Nikkei Business Jiro Yoshino)

[Nikkei Business Electronic Version Review of March 1, 2022]

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