Advantest Corporation, the Japanese technology company and prominent manufacturer of testing equipment for the semiconductor industry, has been hit by a ransomware attack.<\/p>\n
In a statement released on February 19<\/a>, the company, which is a supplier to major chip producers including Samsung, said it was “responding to a cybersecurity incident involving ransomware<\/a> that may have impacted certain systems within its network.”<\/p>\n Headquartered in Tokyo, Advantest employees over 7500 people and has offices in locations around the world, including Munich, Germany and San Jose, California.<\/p>\n The company describes itself as “a global leader in semiconductor test solutions” and it tests chips used to power services including 5G communications, Internet of Things (IoT) devices<\/a>, autonomous vehicles and high-performance computing, including AI and machine learning systems.<\/p>\n Advantest said that it detected “unusual activity” within its IT environment on February 15 which resulted in the immediate deployment of its “incident response protocols”.<\/p>\n This included isolation of the affected systems and “leading third-party cybersecurity experts” being brought in to aid with investigation and containment of the incident.<\/p>\n “Preliminary findings appear to indicate that an unauthorized third party may have gained access to portions of the company’s network and deployed ransomware,” the company said.<\/p>\n As of February 23, a data breach has not been confirmed, but Advantest said it is “dedicated to transparency” and would provide regular updates about the ongoing investigation.<\/p>\n “If our investigation determines that customer or employee data was affected, we will notify impacted persons directly and provide guidance on protective measures,” the statement added.<\/p>\n Advantest has not confirmed which IT services have been compromised with ransomware or how the incident could impact the semiconductor tester’s services or its customers.<\/p>\n Infosecurity <\/em>contacted Advantest for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.<\/p>\n Ransomware remains one of the most significant and most disruptive cybersecurity threats<\/a> facing companies around the globe today. Japan was also the target of one of the most significant ransomware attacks<\/a> of 2025, which saw Japanese brewer Asahi halt production of beer<\/a> to the extent that retailers faced shortages.<\/p>\n