TOKYO - The Japanese government is preparing to establish a new cybersecurity response team comprising experts from the public and private sectors, with plans to dispatch specialists to companies and organizations facing serious cyberattacks following a series of unauthorized intrusions and information leaks.
The government is expected to convene a meeting of relevant Cabinet ministers as early as November 6 to announce a package of emergency measures aimed at combating unauthorized access to computer systems.
According to government officials, the package will include the creation of a provisional "Cyber Rescue Team," bringing together cybersecurity specialists from government agencies and private companies. The team would be dispatched to businesses and other organizations when urgent assistance is deemed necessary.
The initiative comes as repeated cyberattacks and data breaches have raised concerns over the ability of companies and institutions to protect sensitive information and respond effectively to security incidents.
The government also plans to promote wider use of secure identity verification through the My Number Card system, Japan's national identification program, as part of efforts to strengthen protection against unauthorized access.
Another proposed measure involves cooperation with overseas artificial intelligence companies to use advanced AI technology to collect and consolidate information on vulnerabilities in computer systems.
By combining specialist response teams, stronger identity verification and AI-powered vulnerability analysis, the government aims to improve Japan's ability to prevent cyberattacks and respond quickly when security breaches occur.
The government's move follows a wave of major cyberattacks affecting some of Japan's largest companies, with breaches increasingly spreading through external technology providers. In October, East Japan Railway reported that approximately 6.09 million customer accounts may have been compromised, while Kyushu Railway disclosed a potential breach involving another 1.3 million accounts. Both incidents were linked to a ransomware attack targeting IDC Frontier, a cloud services subsidiary of SoftBank, highlighting the risks posed when companies rely on shared technology infrastructure.
Other major incidents disclosed in October included a possible leak of personal information belonging to as many as 6.43 million customers of secondhand retailer Bookoff and approximately 8.72 million customers of Daiichikosho, which operates the Big Echo karaoke chain. Travel booking operator Adventure, which runs the Skyticket platform, also reported that roughly 14.64 million sets of personal information may have been exposed following unauthorized access to its systems. The affected companies said they had found no evidence of misuse of the information at the time of their announcements.
The attacks continued into November, with electronics retailer Nojima reporting a breach potentially involving approximately 7 million customer records, while cosmetics platform @cosme disclosed unauthorized access affecting about 3 million users. Suntory Holdings also reported that an external cloud service breach had exposed names, email addresses and other information relating to approximately 90,000 people, including employees. The incidents have raised concerns over the security of customer databases and the growing dependence of major corporations on third-party cloud services.
Another significant incident involved email distribution provider Arara, which disclosed a breach affecting approximately 77 million email address records. The attack had repercussions for numerous companies using its services, including retailers, food companies and other businesses that relied on external providers to communicate with customers. The incident illustrates how an attack on a single technology supplier can expose information held on behalf of hundreds of organizations, creating risks far beyond the original target.
The growing scale and frequency of these incidents have intensified pressure on the government to strengthen Japan's cybersecurity defenses. Many companies, particularly smaller businesses, lack the specialist personnel needed to investigate sophisticated intrusions, contain damage and restore compromised systems. The proposed Cyber Rescue Team is intended to help address that shortage by making public- and private-sector expertise available when organizations face serious security emergencies.
Source: FNN
