"Onamae.com" FX Auto-Trading VPS May Have Caused Financial Losses from Unauthorized Access; Multiple Reports of Losses Including "6 Million Yen" and "550,000 Yen Gone"

What happened

Users of "お名前.com デスクトップクラウド" (a virtual computer for automated FX trading) reported that their accounts were traded without their permission. Some lost tens of thousands to millions of yen. GMO Internet said on October 22 that trading login details stored on its servers may have been stolen and misused. The service is stopped on all plans.

Key facts

• About 26,739 servers may have been affected.
• Users were told to change passwords right away and log off their sessions.
• Reports on X include losses of 550,000 yen, 2.3 million yen, and 6 million yen.
• The service has more than 200,000 cumulative contracts and costs from 2,640 yen per month.
• GMO has not yet said how much money was lost in total.

What this service does

FX (foreign exchange trading) means betting on how the value of two currencies, such as yen and dollars, will change. This service is a VPS, a virtual private server. It runs trading software such as MetaTrader 4 or 5 in a data center, so users do not need to keep their own PC on all day. Because FX can use borrowed money, losses can be larger than the money put in.

Why it matters

This case shows how risky it is when a company stores login details for other people's accounts. Users can lose real money, and they may have little warning. GMO says it has contacted the police and is working with security experts. It has not yet said how the attackers got in.

What to watch

• When GMO restarts the service and when it will happen.
• How much money users lost, and whether GMO will pay it back.
• How the attackers got in and how many accounts were affected.
• Whether the police make arrests or confirm the cause.