[DigitalToday reporter Chi-gyu Hwang] Japanese companies hit by a series of cyberattacks have begun compensating affected users, Reuters reported on Oct. 26 local time.

The report said online financial services firm GMO Internet Group will compensate customer losses after its foreign exchange trading service was attacked. It will also pay 5,000 yen ($32) to all customers as an apology.

GMO CEO Masatoshi Kumagai (구마가이 마사토시) disclosed the plan on his blog on Oct. 25.

Kumagai wrote on his blog on Oct. 26 that those believed to be behind the attack demanded $50 million in crypto and threatened to disclose company and customer information if they were not paid.

GMO did not comply and began responding together with police and other authorities. It will provide alternative services free for 6 months. Reuters reported that the company has not yet calculated the impact of the compensation on its performance.

Kumagai acknowledged that the company's white-hat hackers found security issues but did not respond sufficiently and quickly. He also urged the government to activate a cyber defense system introduced this month.

The system also allows directly attacking an opposing server to block threats. GMO shares fell nearly 16 percent on Oct. 26 to their lowest in 4 months.

Park24, which operates the Times car-sharing service, will also pay 3,000 yen to customers over a personal information leak last month. The company expected an extraordinary loss of 5.5 billion yen for response and compensation costs.