Internet file-sharing software Winny wreaked havoc in Japanese authorities' computers for the second straight day Friday, with the Tokyo District Court's internal information on public auctions leaked onto the Internet.
The information was leaked from a computer privately owned by a court clerk through the peer-to-peer file-sharing software, the Supreme Court said.
On Thursday, the Maritime Self-Defense Force said that data, including confidential information, had been leaked onto the Internet through Winny.
The leaked Tokyo District Court information included personal data on 149 people linked to the auctions, including their names and addresses, the top court said.
About 1,000 text documents were leaked, apparently through the file-sharing software Winny, from the personal computer of the clerk of the district court, who had brought the information home last year to work on it on his computer, the Supreme Court said.
The Cabinet Secretariat's information security center noticed the data leak and alerted the top court Monday.
The clerk, in his 40s, said during an internal investigation, "I realized there was a virus infection, but I thought I had removed that."
The district court requires its officials to set passwords on documents when they take them home, but the court clerk did not follow the rule.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.