So-net says hackers stole 2.6 million subscriber records

Hackers have stolen the personal information of current and former So-net and Plala internet subscribers in Japan, Sony Network Communications has disclosed. In total, about 2.6 million records were exposed after attackers broke into the So-net member database on 19 October; the intrusion was detected on 23 October, leading So-net to take the targeted server offline and block traffic from the attackers. By 24 October investigators confirmed that personal data had been taken and mapped the scope of the breach.

The compromised data include names, dates of birth, gender, phone numbers, email addresses, user IDs, and the internet connection IDs used by customers. Of the roughly 2.6 million records, 2.14 million belong to So-net subscribers and 443,000 to Plala subscribers, with about 293,000 relating to individuals who left the services in March 2026 or later.

Separately, approximately 54,000 email addresses and their passwords were obtained for four additional mail services (Mail Service G, A-Box, So-net VAIO Mail, and PostPet); So-net has begun resetting these passwords. The breach also affected 16 bank account records, though So-net says it does not hold PINs, and credit card data is not involved as the company does not store it. So-net is investigating the incident and has reported it to Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission.