Japanese shipping major Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) has suffered its second serious hacking incident of the year, a further example of how shipping is becoming an increasingly popular target for cyber criminals.

K Line stated today that there had been an unauthorised access to overseas subsidiary systems, and that the stolen information and data has been published recently.

K Line officials have yet to reply to questions sent by Splash earlier today on the specifics of the attack.

“We have already confirmed the security and safety of the systems, and there is no indication that the unauthorized access continues,” K Line stressed today.

The Tokyo-headquartered shipping giant was hit by a malicious cyber attack in March.

“Cyber-attacks have become extremely diverse in recent years, and local responses and product introductions alone are not sufficient for complete protection, and there are increasing cases where information leaks due to unauthorized access and system outages due to virus infections have a significant impact on corporate activities,” K Line states on the risk management section of its website, going on to point out it has acquired a cyber security management system (CSMS) certification from Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK).

Last month, Splash reported how South Korea’s largest shipping line, HMM, was hit by a cyber attack.