Self-Defense Forces infection USB, review survey flags spread of Chinese memory devices
2026-06-25
Regarding the Chinese-made USB memory device the Ground Self-Defense Force kept using without noticing it was infected, evidence emerged that similar infection risks are spreading to products in general circulation. A Nikkei review of customer comments on major online retailers found at least 25 posts in Japan and the US suspecting virus contamination.
Infection reports left in reviews
A user who bought a USB drive on Amazon.com in the US posted, 'Fake memory, worst of all, it had a Trojan virus.' The USB in question was the same Chinese-made brand as the infected device found in the Ground Self-Defense Force, and the file name of the detected virus also matched. The timing of the post also overlaps with 2024, when the Ground Self-Defense Force obtained the device.
Among about 8,400 lowest-rated reviews for the top 100 USB products displayed as recommendations on Amazon in Japan and the US around April 21, 2026, there were two reports in Japan and 23 in the US suspecting infection since 2017. Signs of an increase have been seen since around 2024, making it highly likely that infected USB devices have spread overseas.
Posts were confirmed not only in the US but also in Japan. In November 2025, a consumer who bought a low-priced Chinese-made USB on Amazon in the US wrote, 'Warning! It looks like this USB has a virus embedded in it. The moment I connected it to a brand-new PC, it got infected.' Similar reports have continued to mount since 2026 began. On a Japanese site, there was also a post saying there were multiple foreign-language files that could not be deleted and that 'data was downloaded on its own. It may be a virus.'
Risks that reach isolated networks
Viruses embedded in USB devices can send information from an infected computer to the outside or transfer it to the USB drive itself. Regarding the virus found in the Ground Self-Defense Force device, a US security company said in an investigative report that it had been used in the past by a China-linked hacker group.
USB-based infections are not limited to factories, research labs and hospitals, where strict controls are required. Such sites often use systems isolated from the internet, and it is common for external data and software to be brought in via USB. An executive at a major Japanese electronics maker said, 'Equipment inside factories and research labs is old, and the latest security measures have not been implemented. Virus infections often occur through USB devices.'
An executive at a company that makes embedded hardware for factories also said Chinese contract manufacturers are often the source of infections. He said manufacturing equipment is not managed properly, so viruses can lurk in the equipment, and he could not rule out the possibility of deliberate contamination. He recalled that when the company outsourced production of memory cards preloaded with software in the past, manufacturing equipment on a specific line was contaminated and a virus was introduced. The parts that had been ordered were switched without authorization to ones with smaller capacity.
The USB drive used by the Ground Self-Defense Force without noticing the infection was also a poor-quality product that falsified its storage capacity. China's supply chain is creating risks that can spread across society.
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