Japan’s Cyber Chief Warns Nation Still Behind on Cybersecurity

Japan still lags behind the US and Europe in defending against cyber threats and improvements are needed across the corporate sector, the nation’s new cyber chief said.

“We have our intention to improve our capability, but it’s just started,” National Cyber Director Yoichi Iida said in an interview with Bloomberg News on the sidelines of a cybersecurity conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.

A string of recent breaches have highlighted Japan’s vulnerabilities. A crippling ransomware attack halted operations at Asahi Group Holdings Ltd., while Askul Corp. suffered a breach that disrupted its e-commerce platform. Nikkei Inc. also reported a virus infection that may have exposed employee and business partner information.

At the CYDEF 2025 conference, Iida said the severity and volume of cyberattacks against Japan had increased significantly, with an internet-connected device facing some form of malicious communication every 13 seconds.

Smaller Japanese companies remain the most exposed because of a lack of resources, but larger firms are far from immune, he told Bloomberg shortly after his speech.

“I would not be surprised if I found some hole or some mistake even by the major companies,” Iida said.

Japan’s goal is to raise its level of cybersecurity to at least the standard of advanced western nations such as the US and European countries. Earlier this year, it adopted an “active cyber-defense” law that will allow authorities to seek to neutralize the source of malicious cyberactivity and publicize information about attackers to attempt to deter further activity.

Cybersecurity has been highlighted as one of the priority investment areas under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration, and Iida’s position was newly created in July to coordinate national strategy.

Tokyo has stepped up cooperation with allies as state-linked hacking campaigns intensify. In September, Japan joined other nations in releasing an advisory about an alleged Chinese state-sponsored cyber espionage group known as “Salt Typhoon” that they said was targeting telecommunications companies and their customers. Iida said that while China, Russia and North Korea appeared to be the source of many attacks, it often wasn’t clear who was directing them.

Despite heightened tensions between Japan and China over the last month following remarks by Takaichi related to Taiwan, Iida said there hadn’t been any noticeable change in cyberattacks originating from China.

“I am not aware of it,” he said.

One of the biggest challenges is building up the human resources to boost both public and private cybersecurity, Iida said. There also needed to be much more awareness of simple steps to improve security, including the use of multi-factor authentication.

“Even a simple action could prevent a cyberattack — like changing the password,” he said.

Photograph: Japan’s National Cyber Director Yoichi Iida; photo credit: Alastair Gale/Bloomberg

Related: