Science & Tech · Cybersecurity · 2 hrs ago
Yakult says data breach exposed about 40,000 personal records
Yakult Honsha confirmed a breach of its website on October 30, saying about 40,000 personal records had been exposed.
The affected information included details from people who used customer and media contact forms, as well as members of its “Tanoshii Kyushoku” service.
Depending on the form, exposed details included names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and the contents of inquiries; some workplace details and encrypted passwords were also included.
Credit card and bank account information was not held by the company.
Yakult stopped the website’s functions on October 26 to limit the damage, and it remained under maintenance on October 30.
The company has not announced when the site will reopen and says it will release further details about the affected records and period in stages; it has also contacted the police and submitted an initial report to Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission.
Yakult Honsha said about 40,000 personal records were exposed after a third party accessed its website without authorization.
The records involved users of its inquiry forms, members of the “Tanoshii Kyushoku” school-lunch website and media contacts.
Potentially exposed information included names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and inquiry details.
Yakult said credit card and bank account information was not held, and no misuse or secondary harm had been confirmed.
The company stopped website functions on October 26 and said the site was still under maintenance on October 30.
- Who
- Yakult Honsha and people whose information was held, including form users, school-lunch site members and media contacts.
- What
- About 40,000 personal records were exposed in an unauthorized access incident.
- When
- Yakult announced the breach on October 30, 2026; it said it had confirmed unauthorized access on October 26.
- Where
- Yakult Honsha’s website and related online forms, including the “Tanoshii Kyushoku” site.
- Why
- Not stated.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Yakult said it confirmed unauthorized access and stopped website functions to prevent further damage.
ITmedia reported that Yakult announced the unauthorized access.
Yakult announced that about 40,000 personal records had been exposed.
ITmedia reported that the website remained under maintenance, with no restart date given.
- Records
- About 40,000 personal records
- Company
- Yakult Honsha
- Incident confirmed
- October 26, 2026
- Announcement
- October 30, 2026
- Affected services
- Website inquiry forms, “Tanoshii Kyushoku” and media inquiry forms
- Financial information
- Credit card and bank account information was not included
What people are saying
新たな事実が判明した場合は、対象範囲や対策、顧客への対応を速やかに公表する