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Japan active cyber defense and infrastructure protection

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2026-10-16 03:08 UTC → 2026-10-19 22:39 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Japan has initiated a new era of ‘active cyber defense’ following the implementation of the ‘Cybersecurity Capability Enhancement Act’ on October 1. This legislative framework authorizes the police and the Ministry of Defense to perform ‘neutralization measures,’ such as remotely accessing and altering settings on servers used by malicious actors to prevent attacks before they cause damage. Building on this legal foundation, the Japanese government announced plans for fiscal 2027 to enhance threat hunting capabilities specifically for critical infrastructure, including power and telecommunications. On October 12, the government declared a cybersecurity emergency following a wave of significant data breaches and ransomware attacks affecting the finance, transport, and retail sectors. More than 20 large companies have reported incidents, with the total number of recorded attacks in 2026 already exceeding the previous year’s total. Notable breaches include a ransomware attack on IDC Frontier, a SoftBank-linked cloud provider, which impacted 495 organizations, and unauthorized access at Times Mobility involving approximately 6.6 million accounts. JR East also reported the potential leak of 1.67 million customer email addresses, while Dai-ichi Life Group reported a potential leak of personal information for approximately 120,000 employees. Specific details regarding the SoftBank Group’s ‘IDCF Cloud’ breach emerged on October 19, noting that the ransomware attack occurred on October 7. The incident affected all customers utilizing specific data centers, though some were able to restore data from backups. This event has coincided with a broader trend of unauthorized access and information leakage, prompting warnings from various institutions regarding the necessity of immediate security audits and improved log utilization. Following these incidents, cybersecurity demand has surged across Japan. In Ishikawa Prefecture, IT firms report a rise in consultations, with some companies seeing sales increases of approximately 30 percent. Inquiries are particularly frequent from the financial, manufacturing, and public infrastructure sectors. In response to the heightened threat environment, the Tochigi Prefectural Police held its first cybersecurity seminar specifically designed for corporate executives from the medical, educational, and financial sectors.

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