Quick heads-up: Japan’s biggest taxi company, Nihon Kotsu, ran into trouble after a cyberattack knocked parts of its network offline. If your ride plans went sideways this weekend, now you know why.
What happened
Sometime early Saturday morning the company detected unauthorized access — think malware sneaking in like an uninvited backseat passenger. As a precaution, they pulled the plug on several systems to stop further damage. The company’s central dispatch system remains offline, which explains outages and booking headaches.
Nihon Kotsu is no small fry: it brings in roughly $1 billion a year, employs over 18,000 people, and runs more than 8,500 taxis plus a couple thousand chauffeur vehicles. So when their systems hiccup, a lot of people feel it.
Why it matters (and what to do)
Services affected include online bookings, reservation management, telephone dispatch, car hire and some internal systems. There’s also a temporary suspension of the special “labor taxi” service for pregnant women in several areas.
- Currently unavailable services: web booking, reservation management, telephone dispatch, and certain internal tools.
- Temporarily suspended labor taxi areas: Tokyo, Musashino City, Mitaka City, Tachikawa, Yokohama, and Saitama.
The company says it has hired outside cybersecurity experts and is investigating whether any customer data was taken. At the moment, a data leak hasn’t been confirmed, but they’re treating the possibility seriously and promise to share updates through official channels.
If you still need a ride, Nihon Kotsu recommends using the GO app or simply heading to a nearby taxi stand. Also: be suspicious of any messages purporting to come from the company — don’t open unexpected attachments or click odd links.
No extortion group has stepped up to claim responsibility so far, and recovery work is ongoing. Stay patient, carry cash or an alternate ride option, and if you like drama, you can enjoy watching IT folks chase down malware like it’s a rogue fare refusing to pay.