Who this is for: policyholders and insured persons of Medicare Life Insurance policies taken out through a Sony Life representative or office. This article is an explainer based on the official notices of Sony Life and Medicare Life and does not cover how the attack was carried out.
Developing: this article will be updated as the organisation publishes more
As of October 30, 2026Not yet known
- Cause and route of the intrusion
- How long the access lasted
- Whether Sony Life's own policyholders are affected
- What the count means in terms of people
- How individual notices are sent
- When Sony Life's services will be restored
In its October 28 notice, Sony Life says it will announce the status of its checks again. It gives no timing. We checked both companies' official sites on October 30 and found no announcement about the leak newer than the October 28 notices.
What policyholders and insured persons should do today
Find out whether you might be affected
According to Medicare Life, those affected are the policyholders and insured persons of its policies that Sony Life handled as an insurance agent. It says there was no leak of information on customers other than those who contracted through Sony Life.
If you cannot remember how you took out your Medicare Life policy, check your contract papers or ask your representative, or call Medicare Life's inquiry line (0120-315-056). Family members insured under a policy are also included. Sony Life says it will contact affected customers in order.
Do not use the links or numbers in a message claiming to be Sony Life or Medicare Life
As of October 28, both companies say no misuse of customer information had been confirmed, and ask people to beware of emails, texts and calls impersonating them. They also say they never ask for passwords, PINs or one-time passwords by email or phone.
This time name, birth date, address, phone number, policy number and contract details are combined, so a message can even name your policy. If you get a message about "confirming your contract", "a procedure" or "a refund as an apology", do not use the links or phone numbers in it. Check through a contact point on an official site that you opened yourself. See also What is phishing?
If you are contacted, call the official contact point yourself
The two companies' contact points are as follows (both appear in their notices).
- Medicare Life: 0120-315-056 (toll-free; weekdays 9:00 to 18:00, weekends 9:00 to 17:00, excluding public holidays and year-end/New Year; Japanese, Japan time)
- Sony Life Customer Center (temporary toll-free line): 0120-833-344 (9:00 to 17:30, excluding Sundays, Golden Week and year-end/New Year; Japanese, Japan time)
In its service suspension notice Sony Life gives a different number (0120-158-821). Both numbers appear in the company's notices.
Sony Life policyholders: handling procedures while the Customer WEB Service is down
Sony Life has suspended the Customer WEB Service, the Sony Life app, the Direct Claim Service, the Application Copy WEB, the Document Check WEB and the Exchange Rate Inquiry System since 8:00 on October 28, saying it is for emergency maintenance. No restoration date is set; we saw the notice again on Sony Life's official site on October 30. For urgent procedures it asks customers to contact their representative or the Customer Center. It says it will announce the restart on its official site.
The notices do not say whether holders of Sony Life's own policies had information leaked. They also do not mention a leak of login passwords, but if you reuse a password from there on other services, it is sensible to change it once the service reopens (our advice; see How to check if your password was leaked).
Medicare Life My Page: new registrations are suspended
In its October 29 notice, Medicare Life says new registrations for My Page are suspended. For contracts other than those made through Sony Life, it is working toward restarting on Monday, November 2; for contracts made through Sony Life, it says it will make the service available once safety measures are complete. It says electronic deduction certificates can be obtained through its My Number procedure portal.
Took out a Medicare Life policy through a Sony Life representative or office
↓
Yes (policyholder or insured)
May be affected. Contacted in order, per Sony Life
No (took it out elsewhere)
No leak (Medicare Life)
Sony Life policy only
Not stated. Check the official site
What happened (according to Sony Life and Medicare Life)
The following is based on Sony Life's October 28, 2026 notice, "Apology regarding unauthorized access to our systems and information leak", Medicare Life's notice of the same day, "Customer information leak linked to unauthorized access to an insurance agent's system", and Medicare Life's October 29 notice.
Oct 27, 2026 (Tue)
It came to light that Sony Life's systems had been accessed without authorization by a third party (Sony Life). Since when is not stated.Oct 28 (Wed), 8:00
Sony Life suspended six services, including the Customer WEB Service, for emergency maintenance.Oct 28
Sony Life and Medicare Life announced the leak. Sony Life says it blocked external access to the affected systems and stopped the related services. It says the Financial Services Agency has already been notified (no date given).Oct 29
Medicare Life announced the suspension of new My Page registrations (working toward a November 2 restart for contracts other than those made through Sony Life).
- Scope
- Personal information of policyholders and insured persons on Medicare Life policies that Sony Life handled as an insurance agent. Medicare Life says there was no leak of information on customers other than those who contracted through Sony Life
- Items
- Name, date of birth, gender, address, phone number, policy number, contract details
- Count
- About 385,000 records
- Not included
- My Number, credit card information, premium transfer account information
- Response (Sony Life)
- Sony Life blocked external access to the affected systems and stopped the related services. Affected customers will be contacted in order. The Financial Services Agency has been notified (all per Sony Life's notice)
- Contact
- Medicare Life 0120-315-056 (weekdays 9:00 to 18:00, weekends 9:00 to 17:00, excluding holidays and year-end/New Year) / Sony Life 0120-833-344 (9:00 to 17:30, excluding Sundays, Golden Week and year-end/New Year)
What is known and what is not
This is the state as of October 30, 2026. We will rewrite this table as follow-ups appear.
| Item | What the notices say | Status |
|---|---|---|
| That unauthorized access occurred | Came to light on October 27 (Sony Life) | Confirmed (the company) |
| Name, date of birth, gender, address, phone number, policy number, contract details | Policyholders and insured persons on Medicare Life policies. About 385,000 records | Leak confirmed (the company) |
| My Number | Not included | Not included (the company) |
| Credit card information | Not included | Not included (the company) |
| Premium transfer account information | Not included | Not included (the company) |
| Medicare Life contracts not made through Sony Life | No leak of information (Medicare Life) | Not included (Medicare Life) |
| Information of holders of Sony Life's own policies | Not stated | Not stated |
| Claims, benefit requests or health information | Not among the listed items | Not stated |
| Login IDs and passwords | Not among the listed items | Not stated |
| Cause, route of intrusion, period of access | "Details are under investigation" | Under investigation |
| Misuse | As of October 28, no misuse confirmed | Not confirmed (the company) |
| Individual notices to those affected | "Will be contacted in order". Method not stated | Not stated |
| What the count means | "About 385,000 records". Not stated whether it is people | Not stated |
| Restoration of Sony Life's services | Not set | Under investigation |
| Compensation | Not stated | Not stated |
Note: the count is not necessarily people, and whether you are affected depends on how you took out the policy
"About 385,000" is a count of records, not people. Information on both policyholders and insured persons is said to be included, and the notices do not say how records relate to people. The range where a leak is stated to be confirmed is only information on Medicare Life policyholders and insured persons. Sony Life's notice says at the start that customer information leaked, but it does not make clear whether holders of Sony Life's own policies are included.
What the combination of leaked items could be used for
The following is what can generally happen with this combination of items. It is not something the companies say has happened in this case.
- Name + date of birth + address + phone number: calls, texts or letters posing as an insurer or agent that pretend to be an identity check
- Policy number + contract details: a message that names your contract looks more real. It could be material for messages posing as "confirming your contract", "renewal or cancellation procedures" or "a refund"
- Insured persons' information: messages can reach family members who are not the policyholder. Tell them they may be affected
Most of these are defeated by not using the links or numbers in the message and checking through an official contact point you looked up yourself. Check both companies' official sites for follow-ups.
What operators should review
The cause has not been published, so only what the published account supports is listed here.
- How much of another company's contract data you hold: the information here concerned another insurer's policies handled by an agent. Review how much of that data you hold in relation to your own policyholder-facing systems, who can reach it, and how long it is kept (how this case was set up has not been published).
- Limiting the damage: Sony Life has suspended services since the morning after it learned of the access, and says it blocked external access to the affected systems (the time of the block is not stated). That is what the published account shows.
- Guidance on contact points: Sony Life gives different contact numbers in its leak notice and its service suspension notice. When there are several contact points, saying which number is for which matter helps people tell them apart from fake ones.
Sources (public records)
The facts in this article come from the public information below. We have not guessed at the cause, the number of people or the route of the intrusion, which have not been published.
- Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd., "[Important] Apology regarding unauthorized access to our systems and information leak" (Japanese, October 28, 2026) — sonylife.co.jp (PDF)
- Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd., "[Important] Temporary suspension of the Customer WEB Service, the Sony Life app and other services" (Japanese, October 28, 2026) — sonylife.co.jp (PDF)
- Medicare Life Insurance Co., Ltd., "Customer information leak linked to unauthorized access to an insurance agent's system" (Japanese, October 28, 2026) — news.medicarelife.com (PDF)
- Medicare Life Insurance Co., Ltd., "Suspension of some services linked to unauthorized access to an insurance agent's system" (Japanese, October 29, 2026) — news.medicarelife.com
Update history
2026-10-30: First version. Based on the October 28 notices of Sony Life and Medicare Life, Medicare Life's October 29 notice, and Sony Life's suspension notice (checked October 30; no leak announcement newer than the October 28 notices found). We will update it when the cause, scope and any effect on Sony Life's own policyholders are published.
Read next
- Other Japanese cases from the same period (member data): So-net unauthorized access / MrMax
- Follow-on scams: What is phishing? / Smartphone security basics
- Protect your accounts: How to check if your password was leaked / Choosing multi-factor authentication
- Other 2026 incidents: Data breaches and cyberattacks in 2026 (Japan and worldwide)