Digital Agency inquiry form data possibly leaked up to about 13,000 records after contractor Studio breached

According to the Digital Agency's announcement, the issue came to light on October 16 when Studio, the cloud service provider contracted to handle part of the website's operations, reported unauthorized access. The information that may have been affected consists of entries submitted to the Digital Agency website's inquiry form, totaling up to about 13,000 records. The applicable period is May 2021 through March 2023, and the data may include names and email addresses of people who sent opinions or requests.

Studio confirmed unauthorized access to its cloud environment between September 30 and October 1 and disclosed on October 20 that customer data and API keys may have been exposed. The Digital Agency's announcement is the government-side discovery of an impact spreading from this contractor incident. Digital Minister Furukawa said, "It is unknown whether data were actually leaked, and we have requested a report from Studio."

This case is significant because it shows a supply-chain information leak affecting a government agency, not just damage confined to the service provider itself. Even a seemingly minor entry point such as an inquiry form had accumulated names and email addresses, and the compromise of a contractor/SaaS provider directly became an information-disclosure and apology matter for a government body. In recent years, there have been repeated intrusions via contractors and cloud services at companies and local governments, raising questions about risk management by clients (specifically, identifying the scope of impact after receiving notice of a contractor breach and promptly making public disclosures).

Anyone who contacted the Digital Agency website between May 2021 and March 2023 should check the agency's public page for the latest information. Combinations of names and email addresses are easily abused as targets for phishing, so be cautious of suspicious emails purporting to be from government agencies.