VirnetX Holding Corp, an American communications technology company, is poised to enter the Japanese market. By 2024, the company will market its “Zero Trust Network,” which closely checks communications within an organization to detect intrusions by cyber attackers. In addition to marketing to the American private sector the security services it has traditionally provided to the U.S. military and government,….Read more

Ransomware is posing an increasing threat.   On Sept. 21, the National Police Agency (NPA) announced that there were 103 ransomware attacks during the six-month period from January to June 2023. This is the third half year in a row for the number of cases to exceed 100.   The NPA says the number remains high because of the spread….Read more

The Russia-Ukraine war, which started in February 2022, is sometimes described as an all-out war in the digital era, having a mix of old and new aspects of warfare. One of the latter is the Starlink satellite internet service used by the Ukrainian forces as telecommunication infrastructure. The service, a type of satellite constellation — a group of artificial satellites….Read more

TOKYO – Japan is looking to legislate a “security clearance” system, which grants some individuals special access to classified government data, in 2024 to prevent critical information from leaking to overseas entities, a government source said Saturday.   The move comes as “dual-use” technology, in which cutting-edge innovation developed by private businesses can be used for military purposes, has been….Read more

The Ministry of Defense (MOD) will newly establish a “fixed-term employment system for Self-Defense Force personnel” as early as fiscal 2024 to hire civilians with high levels of specialized skills and experience in the cybersecurity area, government sources told the Sankei Shimbun on Sept. 11.   The MOD aims to revise the Self-Defense Forces Act during an ordinary Diet session….Read more

At its meeting on Sept. 5, the Liberal Democratic Party’s “project team to promote digital security in medicine” (chaired by Seto Takakazu) summarized the points under discussion related to measures to counter cyberattacks targeting medical institutions. The project team pointed out that as a preventative measure, an organization for medical institutions to work together to deal with cyberattacks should be….Read more

The shortcomings of Japan’s cybercrime investigation capabilities are becoming evident. The U.S. authorities were the ones that recently charged the perpetrators in an incident in which a large quantity of bitcoins disappeared from Mt. Gox, a cryptocurrency exchange in Tokyo.

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–The Cyber Affairs Bureau and the National Cyber Unit of Japan’s National Police Agency, which were established on April 1 last year to deal with increasingly serious cybercrimes, have started to produce results by promoting international cooperation.   After the two organizations worked with overseas investigative organizations, information provided by them has led to the prosecution….Read more

Tokyo, Aug. 30 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s National Police Agency on Wednesday announced a plan to upgrade its National Cyber Unit to a department to step up its fight against cybercrimes and cyberattacks.   Under the plan, included in its organizational reform request for fiscal 2024, the NPA will also set up a special investigation division and a planning and analysis division….Read more

The government is considering revising the Economic Security Promotion Act and the Basic Act on Cybersecurity to strengthen cyberdefense for critical facilities. It will focus on adding ports to the infrastructure areas that require tighter measures and consolidating the areas covered by the two laws. It aims to submit the draft amendments to an ordinary Diet session next year.  ….Read more