Japanese dating app operator Net Marketing Co. said Friday personal data of 1.71 million users, including names and face photos, was likely leaked due to unauthorized access to its server.

Behind the surge in the number of cases in which information was compromised is that many companies have been rushing to promote digitalization and remote work, experts said.

Kawasaki Heavy said it found fraudulent server access via a company base in Thailand during a system audit on June 11 this year, and confirmed the possibility of a data breach.

According to the company, import licenses for medical equipment and employee residency permits were released on the dark web after a computer in its Taipei sales office was infected in mid-October.

Sumitomo Forestry Co., Hitachi Chemical Co. and 36 other Japanese companies had authentication information to access their virtual private networks stolen and leaked by hackers this summer.

While attacks on IT infrastructure have become routine, attempts to disable physical infrastructure are a troubling escalation in cyberwarfare that might become the new normal globally, experts worry.