Japanese firms expand AI cybersecurity amid surge in attacks

Japanese technology and electronics firms are expanding their AI-driven cybersecurity services in response to increasing unauthorized system breaches and a shortage of security professionals.

Itochu Techno-Solutions Corporation launched an AI-powered Security Operations Center (SOC) service using the Exaforce Agentic SOC Platform. Following this, other major manufacturers introduced specialized offerings: Hitachi Ltd. launched a service using AI models from OpenAI and Anthropic for critical infrastructure monitoring; Fujitsu Ltd. established a dedicated cyber defense division; and NEC Corp. introduced an AI-driven service to analyze risks for various sectors.

This expansion comes amid a significant cybersecurity crisis in Japan and South Korea, characterized by a wave of sophisticated, AI-driven attacks targeting major companies. In Japan, more than 20 major entities—including JR East, SoftBank-owned IDC Frontier, and Times Car—have reported breaches. Notable leaks include 1.67 million email addresses from JR East and 6.6 million accounts from Times Car, the latter of which included images of driving licenses.

Authorities have declared a “state of emergency in cyber space,” noting that attackers are using artificial intelligence to automate phishing, scan for vulnerabilities, and bypass traditional defenses. In response to the risk of identity theft, the Japanese Financial Services Agency has urged banks to transition from traditional driving licenses to chip-based documents, such as passports or MyNumber cards, for identity verification. The surge in attacks has led to increased demand for the AI-powered cyberdefense services provided by firms like Hitachi, Fujitsu, and NEC.