The Daily Manila Shimbun

 

Boy, 14, arrested for creating ransomware

June 5, 2017

YOKOHAMA- The Kanagawa prefectural police department arrested Monday a 14-year-old boy in what is believed to be the first criminal case that has been established in Japan for alleged creation of ransomware.
Before his arrest, the junior high school third-year student of Takatsuki in the western prefecture of Osaka said he wanted to gain public recognition by exhibiting his skills, police sources said.
The malware he created is thought to have nothing to do with the global ransomware attack that reportedly hit more than 100 countries last month. There have been no reports of damage from his virus.
The boy allegedly created the software on Jan. 6 that encrypts data on infected computers to make them effectively impossible to use and then demands money to unlock the data.
Through the act, he is suspected of committing the crime of producing electromagnetic records that give unauthorized commands, according to the arrest warrant. (Jiji Press)