Yasukuni Shrine Online Shop Breach Exposes 14,500 Records
Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine says unauthorized access to its online shop leaked about 14,500 member records, including names, emails and hashed passwords.
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giftdetect· the right gift in minutesYasukuni Shrine in Chiyoda, Tokyo, announced on November 11 that unauthorized access to its online store for amulets and distributed goods led to the leak of personal data on about 14,500 records. The site has been taken offline, and the shrine has not said when it will reopen.
What was exposed
The leaked data includes names and email addresses registered by members, hashed passwords along with the auxiliary data used to generate them, and administrative information such as account registration dates and usage status. The passwords cannot be read as they are, but the shrine warns that a third party could potentially work out the original passwords. The number of affected records is still under investigation and may change.
As of November 11, the shrine had not confirmed any leak of credit card information, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth or purchase history. It has also found no secondary damage resulting from the incident.
Response and advice for users
The shrine became aware of the intrusion on October 28 and shut the site down the same day. It is now investigating the cause and scope together with the company that manages the site.
Affected users will be notified individually by email. The shrine urges anyone who uses the same password on the shop site and on other services to change it promptly. It also cautions people to watch for suspicious messages that impersonate the shrine and exploit the leaked names and email addresses.
The case adds to a run of data breaches in Japan, where organizations ranging from email delivery providers to retailers have recently reported unauthorized access. For members, the practical steps are to change reused passwords and treat unexpected messages with suspicion until the investigation concludes.
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