A Nikkei investigation previously revealed that the Ground Self-Defense Force had used a counterfeit Chinese USB drive infected with malware. Because the USB drive had been acquired through Amazon, the risk was not limited to the Self-Defense Forces. Nikkei reporters purchased a selection of inexpensive USB drives online, including products sold under the same brand used by the Ground Self-Defense Force, and examined their true capacity. Software in the USB drive's controller had been manipulated to make the computer display memory that was not actually present. Many consumers interviewed said they no longer used USB drives because they stored most data in cloud services.