Research Organization of Information and Systems

22nd October 2024
Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS), Inter-University Research Institute Corporation

DDBJ (Head: Masanori Arita) of the National Institute of Genetics, Research Organization of Information and Systems, received a threat on X (formerly Twitter) late at night on October 8, 2024, from an international hacker group that they had stolen data from DDBJ. In our thorough investigation, there were no unauthorized system intrusions, internal system tampering, or data loss.

  • DDBJ has been implementing the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC) with the United States and Europe for more than 30 years since 1987. It allows anyone in the world to freely use academic information and is fundamental to open science. This global open science initiative received a cyber threat late at night on October 8th.
  • The criminal announcement was made by an international hacker group, calling itself CyberVolk. It declared releasing 5% of DDBJ data and threatened on X (formerly Twitter) to release the remaining 95% if DDBJ did not pay $10,000.
  • It is regrettable that the DDBJ has received such a statement. As a member of Inter-University Research Institute Corporation, DDBJ promotes the free and open access to data and knowledge. The data disclosed by the criminal group is a part of BioSample database, which can be downloaded free of charge by anyone, and the threat is meaningless.
  • DDBJ has conducted a thorough internal investigation to confirm that there has been no unauthorized intrusion into the system. At present, no unauthorized system intrusions, internal system tampering, or data loss has been detected.
  • Since 10th October, We had to stop sharing data from DDBJ to the U.S. and Europe until the investigation is fully completed. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused, especially to researchers who submitted data to DDBJ. We plan to resume the normal data sharing with the U.S. and Europe from 22nd October.
  • Even if the data is freely available for download, the cyber threat is harmful to our public service that links science and society; DDBJ is adamantly against this. Attacking an academic institution that stands for open science is the same as attacking the entire world. DDBJ is committed to creating a society that will not put up with such conduct.

[Contact]
National Institute of Genetics, Research Organization of Information and Systems
Ken Kurokawa, Head of Information Infrastructure Unit, National Institute of Genetics, Research Organization of Information and Systems
Tel：055-981-9437

Mitsuru Adachi, General Manager of Central Administration Department, Research Organization of Information and Systems
Tel：03-6402-6220