crime

Nikkei employee arrested over hacking of celebrities' e-mail accounts

17 Comments

A 29-year-old employee of the Nikkei newspaper was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of hacking into the email account of model Moe Oshikiri, as well as the accounts of Miyuki Watanabe, a former member of the popular all-girl pop group NMB48, and other celebrities.

According to police, the suspect, Jun Terai, has admitted to the charge, saying he began hacking into Oshikiri's Gmail account in 2014 after he was able to access the server of her mobile phone, Fuji TV reported. Terai, who works in the Nikkei's digital programming department, was quoted by police as saying he hacked the email accounts by guessing the women's passwords.

Terai told police he would use various combinations of the women's nicknames, birthdays and other data which he gathered from their blogs. He said he got a thrill when he successfully guessed the correct password.

After Terai accessed Oshikiri's account, he changed her password, which prompted her to contact the police cybercrime division, Fuji reported. Terai accessed Watanabe's iCloud account in October 2015.

Police said that Terai has admitted to collecting data on more than 100 celebrities.

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17 Comments
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dweeb

1 ( +1 / -0 )

which prompted [Terai] to contact the police cybercrime division

I'm amazed the authorities took action, particularly for a hacked e-mail account which has become a very common occurrence in this day and age

In my experience, the authorities normally won't even bother initiating paperwork for far more substantial online and embezzlement crimes.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@ Sensato : agreed, both Nikkei and Moe enjoying free publicity !

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Moe ... celebrity ...

Sensato ... "In my experience" ...

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Why would he change the password? He could have just as well read their email for years. Stupid kid.

10 ( +12 / -2 )

Never heard of her.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

oldman - I have, so what's your point?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

After Terai accessed Oshikiri’s account, he changed her password, which prompted her to contact the police cybercrime division, Fuji reported.

DUMB!!!

Police said that Terai has admitted to collecting data on more than 100 celebrities.

Please somebody give him a Darwin award.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

In England, the hackers from a famous tabloid were not arrested in public in real time tv, and put in the clink. Here it is 3 days news of the arrest. The lesson to be learned, is update your software and don't use your child's name as a password.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

She is well rounded and talented. She just needs to use better passwords.

http://www.dfiles.me/oshikiri.html

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Isn't Oshikiri a bit old for this guy? The thought of getting his hands on a real woman must be terrifying for him.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Lock him up. Throw the key away, and BTW, keep all sorts of computers, tablets, Smaho away from him...PLEASE.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Japanese reporters have special laws to allow them to "investigate". I've been in a situation where a media outlet "hacked" a website and it was legal because of this law, they didn't do any damage just reported it was hackable.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I remember reading an analysis of one of those large server hacks (on Yahoo, maybe?) where the hacker published online a list of the thousands of account names and their passwords that he uncovered. The top three most common passwords were "password," "12345," and "54321." It's like hiding your house key under the welcome mat. Just a little bit of extra effort can go a long way when it comes to security.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Gogogo, thats a good one - japanese reporters investgate. Haha, since when? I like your appropriate use of quotation marks.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@outrider the law might have changed but at least 15 years ago it was there so that reporters wouldn't get censored. When I first heard of it I couldn't believe it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@ Sensato : agreed, both Nikkei and Moe enjoying free publicity !

some14some - Absolutely! I'm sure her manager's phone is ringing off the hook with a windfall of endorsements! If she wasn't living comfortably before, she surely is now! The news have been on this juicy story 24/7! She can't leave her house with the press camped out on her street!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

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