Tokyo, Nov. 6 (Jiji Press)--Japan's National Police Agency said Friday that it has set up a joint investigation headquarters led by its special cyber investigation unit and comprising prefectural police departments, in response to a string of cyberattacks resulting in data breaches across the country.

The agency launched a separate investigation headquarters with the cybercrime division of Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department for a high-profile unauthorized access case that hit GMO Internet Group Inc. The NPA special unit is expected to assist in the investigation by drawing on its advanced technical expertise and experience working with foreign authorities.

"We will seek to uncover the full scope of the (series of) incidents through a nationwide investigative effort," an NPA official said.

Of cyberattack cases that hit companies and other organizations, the nationwide investigation headquarters will handle unauthorized access incidents that resulted in large-scale personal information breaches confirmed in January this year and later.

While the NPA has not disclosed the names of companies affected by the cyberattacks subject to the headquarters' investigation, the number of firms is believed to exceed 100. They apparently include the operator of the Times Car vehicle-sharing service, whose customers' driver's license information was compromised.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]