March 1, 2024 at 12:35AM
NTT West president, Masaaki Moribayashi, announced his resignation effective end of March, following the leak of data of 9.28 million customers. He expressed the importance of social responsibility and took the blame for the incident at a widely reported press conference. The company apologized, revealed investigation results, and outlined measures to strengthen information security.
From the meeting notes:
NTT West president Masaaki Moribayashi announced his resignation on Thursday, effective at the end of March, in response to the leak of data pertaining to 9.28 million customers last October.
Moribayashi expressed that his resignation is in line with the company’s social responsibility and to take the blame for the incident. Resignations in Japan after such incidents are not uncommon, often seen as a type of mea culpa, to maintain one’s honor, or to mitigate public anger.
NTT West apologized for the leak and disclosed details of the related investigation. It was revealed that a temporary employee stole the data and sold it to a third party. The theft is believed to have occurred over a decade, prior to Moribayashi’s leadership.
The former employee responsible for the theft has been arrested and indicted for violation of the unfair competition prevention law.
Japan’s communication ministry concluded that NTT West had failed to oversee and manage customer data properly and ordered the business to revise its contracts with employment agencies.
To prevent a similar incident from occurring again, the NTT West Group will implement preventive measures to strengthen information security, including adding 100 members to its infosec division and allocating ¥10 billion ($66.5 million) for monitoring upgrades.
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