GMO announced on Friday the establishment of its Group Information Security Audit Office to strengthen the data protection and audit of the company. The company wrote:
"We will protect important customer information against increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks through our highly secure countermeasures and we will seek to improve security literacy of group data and encourage security personnel."
The Financial Services Agency of Japan (FSA) issued a commercial improvement order to GMO Coin, a cryptocurrency exchange subsidiary of GMO Internet, on March 8 after conducting an inspection. The agency began inspecting all crypto exchanges after the piracy of Coincheck, one of the largest exchanges in Japan.
The FSA requires the "Implementation of an effective risk management system structure" under Article 63-16 of the Law on the payment of funds. GMO Coin obtained a license from the FSA in September of last year.
Based in Tokyo, GMO is one of the largest Internet companies in Japan. Opera GMO Click, which according to its website is "the largest provider of forex trading services for retail investors in Japan". Last year, the group also began its cryptoming operations.
Following the order of the FSA, GMO Coin presented a commercial improvement plan as required by the agency. The exchange details that it will report its progress and implementation status to the regulator "every month until the tenth day of the following month in writing until the installation is completed." The first report date is the last day of March.
Specifically, GMO Coin plans to establish an effective risk management system. "The management team analyzed and investigated the causes of the failures of the system, formulated concrete countermeasures and responded to the real situation of the expansion of the business," the company described.
The business improvement plan includes :
Commercial management systems.
Corresponding contingency preparation plan in case of failure.
Information security, cybersecurity management posture.
Configuration management and quality control systems.
In his announcement, the exchange indicated that "they sincerely apologize for the inconveniences and concerns that our customers and interested parties have experienced," adding:
"We deeply reflect on taking this administrative punishment seriously and will constantly implement improvement plans to strengthen and improve the risk management system with the aim of further refining the service so that customers can feel comfortable and safe with us."