Fake USB Sticks Spread China-Linked Virus in Japan’s Army

newsweak ^ | Jun 25, 2026 at 11:34 AM EDT

[BenLurkin]

Fake USB sticks used by the Japanese army spread a China-linked computer virus inside a secure network for nearly a year before they were found to contain malware, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday.

The flash drives were delivered to Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force during disaster relief operations in March 2024 following an earthquake in central Japan, the paper said, citing internal army documents. The infection was not discovered until February 2025, when a Japanese soldier in Itami, near Osaka, reported that a computer was operating slowly.

A scan revealed that it had been infected by a virus carried on a compromised flash drive previously linked to a Chinese hacker group, the Nikkei said. The malware infects the computer as soon as the USB drive is inserted.

Japan’s army uses both open and isolated systems developed for the military and the country’s Defense Ministry, which uses the closed network to house classified information. When necessary, external data can be transferred in using portable storage devices like USB sticks.

An internal investigation detected the same malware on six of the eight USB drives given to the army at the time, and the infection occurred despite multiple safeguards, including requirements to scan external drives upon receipt and during use. More than 50 computers were found to have been connected to the infected drives at some point, the Nikkei said. And nearly half of those handled classified data, such as unit movements.

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TOPICS: Computers/Internet
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[EvilCapitalist]

Does this mean we can say “The China Virus” without getting scowls from leftists?

[Waverunner]

they could tell it was slowing down the system because it was taking time depixellating the videos the soldiers were watching.

[GingisK]

I don’t suppose they couldn’t reformat the things before they used them? (Please, turn the automatic actions off.)

[fso301]

[DIRTYSECRET]

Payback from 90 years ago. It’s on their mind.

[Dr. Sivana]

I don’t suppose they couldn’t reformat the things before they used them?

maybe. Sometimes there's a hidden partition. You would also be wise to do a deep reformat most reformats (quick format) just erase the markers where everything is.