Pierluigi Paganini August 18, 2023

#OpFukushima: The famous collective Anonymous has launched cyberattacks against Japan nuclear websites over Fukushima water plan.

The hacker collective Anonymous has launched cyberattacks against nuclear power-linked groups in Japan as part of an operation called #OpFukushima. The campaign was launched to protest against the Government’s plan to release the treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.

The offensive surged since last month, according to NTT Security Japan the attacks increased shortly after the International Atomic Energy Agency disclosed the plat in its final report. According to the Agency’s report, the discharge would comply with global safety standards.

NTT Security revealed that Anonymous has released a “target list” after the Japanese government formally decided in 2021 to release treated water from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The security firm warns of a possible escalation of the attacks and urges to increase the level of cyber security of potential targets.

“Vigilance is needed, as the attacks could further escalate after the discharge,” a representative of the NTT Security Japan told The Japan Times.

Anonymous already targeted the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Japan Atomic Power Co. and the Atomic Energy Society of Japan.

The accounts that are most active in #OpFukushima are @AnonSecIta, @ghostman_s3c, and @TEAM_HEROX_.

At this time, Anonymous only launched distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against the sites of the target organizations. According to the media, one of the most active groups of the collective is the Italian branch, below is the post that announces the attack against the Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC) energy

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that its website was reached by malicious traffic that is about 100 times more than its usual traffic, however, it pointed out that the attack was mitigated without problems.

A group based in Vietnam is also actively participating in the campaign, according to NTT Security.

“As an early opponent of Russia’s nuclear waste disposal in the sea in the 1990s, #Japan‘s current actions demonstrate how treacherous a government can become in the pursuit of its own interests.” reads a message posted by Anonymous.

“A member of Anonymous told Kyodo News recently that the Japanese government’s policy to release treated water lacks transparency as citizens were not able to participate in its decision-making process.” reported the Japan Times.

“We must put an end to the senseless act of making the sea a dumping ground for economic benefit,” the member said.

After the incident at the Fukushima plant that was caused by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the water has been kept in tanks after going through the advanced liquid processing system that removes most radionuclides except tritium. The media reported that the storage vessels are nearing capacity.

Many organizations worldwide and local communities are disappointed by the decision to release the treated radioactive water in the sea.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Anonymous)