The increasing sophistication and complexity of cyberattacks and growing threats

「昨年に発生した国内大手飲料メーカーや物流 ・EC企業におけるランサムウェア攻撃事案 と同様に、直近においても大手食品・流通企業グループがサイバー攻撃を受けたことによるシステム障害が発生し、納品遅延などサプライチェーン全体へ被害が波及する重大なインシデントが発生いたしました。」

「In the cybersecurity industry, as the cloud shift accompanying the evolution of DX continues and generative AI becomes rapidly more widespread and increasingly used in business, the cyber risks faced by companies and organizations are becoming significantly more serious in both nature and scale. The Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA)'s "10 Major Information Security Threats 2026" shows clear diversification of threats, with "cyber risks associated with the use of AI" newly entering the rankings alongside long-standing top threats such as "ransomware attacks" and "attacks exploiting weaknesses in supply chains."」

「In the cybersecurity industry, the cloud shift driven by DX continues, while the use of AI is advancing rapidly. Strengthening cybersecurity measures at companies and organizations has become an essential factor in management strategy and business continuity. More recently, ransomware cyberattacks on a major domestic beverage manufacturer and logistics and e-commerce companies caused large-scale system failures, stopping or delaying the ordering and shipment of products. Extensive media coverage has reported that the impact has also spread to other companies in the supply chain.」

「In the cybersecurity industry, as changes in working styles, including telework, and the cloud shift driven by DX have progressed, the scope of cyber risks has expanded significantly, and reports of actual damage continue to increase. Major domestic airlines and banks, which are important social infrastructure companies, have suffered a succession of DDoS attacks that temporarily halted service. Large-scale cyberattacks, including ransomware, on a major domestic publisher and a major logistics outsourcing company have also received extensive media coverage. In addition to cyberattacks such as unauthorized access exploiting network vulnerabilities, new attack methods abusing generative AI are being developed one after another, further diversifying attack methods and broadening the scope of their damage. As a result, cybersecurity threats are becoming even more serious, and countermeasures have become an important issue for people's lives and socioeconomic activities.」

「In the cybersecurity industry, as changes in working styles, including telework, and the cloud shift driven by DX have progressed, the scope of cyber risks has expanded significantly, and reports of actual damage continue to increase. As shown by recent reports of major cyberattacks, including ransomware, on a major domestic publisher and a major logistics outsourcing company, the impact of cyberattack damage often extends beyond a single company to other companies and social activities. In recent years, unauthorized access exploiting network vulnerabilities in cloud and container environments has become particularly prominent, and attacks are becoming increasingly diverse while their impact continues to spread. Cybersecurity measures have therefore become an important issue for people's lives and socioeconomic activities.」

「In the cybersecurity industry, as changes in working styles, including telework, and the cloud shift driven by DX have progressed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the scope of cyber risks has expanded significantly, and reports of actual damage continue to increase. The number of publicly disclosed ransomware incidents has continued to rise, reaching a high in 2023. One widely reported incident occurred in July 2023, when a ransomware infection at Nagoya Port's terminal caused all terminal functions to shut down.」

「In the cybersecurity industry, as changes in working styles, including telework, and the cloud shift driven by DX have progressed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the scope of cyber risks has expanded significantly, and damage continues to increase among both individuals and companies. As a recent example, reports stated that a major domestic stationery manufacturer suffered a ransomware cyberattack that may have resulted in the leakage of approximately 1.86 million records of personal information. Cybersecurity measures have therefore become increasingly important for people's lives and socioeconomic activities.」

「In the cybersecurity industry, as changes in working styles, including telework, and the cloud shift driven by DX have progressed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the scope of cyber risks has expanded, and damage continues to increase among both individuals and companies. Ransomware damage has continued to rise, and recent reports stated that a major domestic pharmaceutical company suffered a ransomware cyberattack that could affect deliveries of pharmaceuticals and other products to medical institutions. Incidents exposing security risks in supply chains have also become more prominent. In particular, a succession of incidents involving widely used enterprise IT services, including SaaS, PaaS and IaaS, have been reported in which cyberattacks resulted in service outages. Cybersecurity measures have therefore become increasingly important for people's lives and socioeconomic activities.」

「In the cybersecurity industry, as changes in working styles, including telework, and the cloud shift driven by DX have progressed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the scope of cyber risks has expanded significantly, and damage continues to increase among both individuals and companies. According to "The State of Threats in Cyberspace in 2022 and Other Matters," published by the National Police Agency on 16 March, the number of reported ransomware incidents in Japan last year reached a record high. The report also addressed the increasingly malicious nature of extortion methods and the growing difficulty of restoring damage.」

「More recently, reports stated that a domestic medical institution was infected with ransomware in October of the previous year, disrupting its healthcare delivery system and requiring 2 months to restore. The ransomware entered through the system of an affiliated external provider, and the reports also stated that the infection spread laterally. In addition, reports stated that in November of the previous year, a local government employee leaked personal information from the Basic Resident Register Network System at the request of an acquaintance.」

「In the cybersecurity industry, as changes in working styles, including telework, and DX have progressed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the scope of cyber risks has expanded significantly, and damage continues to increase among both individuals and companies. Ransomware damage has continued unabated, and the National Police Agency reported in "The State of Threats in Cyberspace and Other Matters," published in September 2022, that ransomware damage had increased 80% year on year. Domestic damage affected a wide range of industries, and many incidents involved attacks targeting vulnerable points in supply chains. In addition, around the same time, access disruptions occurred at 23 websites operated by 4 ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Reports also stated that an overseas hacker group had posted a video claiming responsibility. Cybersecurity measures have therefore become increasingly important for people's lives and socioeconomic activities.」

「In the cybersecurity industry, as changes in working styles, including telework, and the cloud shift driven by DX have progressed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the scope of cyber risks has expanded significantly, and damage continues to increase among both individuals and companies. According to the "Information Security White Paper 2022" published by the Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA), damage from ransomware increased sharply in 2021 as attack methods became more sophisticated, with the number of reported incidents in the second half of that year reaching four times the level in the same period of the previous year. There have also been many cases in which overseas offices, overseas subsidiaries and business partners were attacked and suffered damage, including cases that resulted in the suspension of factory operations. Cybersecurity measures have therefore become increasingly important for people's lives and socioeconomic activities.」

「The environment surrounding cybersecurity has seen a significant expansion in the scope of cyber risks as changes in working styles, including telework, and DX progressed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with damage continuing to increase among both individuals and companies. Overseas, in May 2021, a major US oil pipeline company temporarily halted operations following a ransomware attack, and extensive media coverage reported that the US Department of Transportation declared the introduction of emergency measures concerning fuel transportation. In Japan, after a business partner of a major automobile manufacturer was infected with ransomware in March 2022, all 14 of the manufacturer's domestic plants and 28 production lines were temporarily shut down.」

「In the cybersecurity industry, as changes in working styles, including telework, and DX have progressed during the COVID-19 pandemic, attacks targeting people unfamiliar with new workstyles have increased sharply, making cybersecurity measures increasingly important for people's lives and socioeconomic activities. The Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA)'s "10 Major Information Security Threats 2021," published in January 2022, noted that threats such as attacks targeting new-normal workstyles, including telework, and unauthorized logins to internet services had risen significantly in the rankings, in addition to the growing threat of ransomware, and referred to the need to review security measures. Tokyo Shoko Research also announced that personal information leaked by listed companies in 2021 amounted to 5.74 million people. The number of listed companies, including subsidiaries, that disclosed accidents involving personal information leakage or loss was 120, up 36.3% year on year, while the number of incidents was 137, up 33.0%. Both figures represented the highest level of damage since 2012, leading the company to state that information security measures also need to be advanced.」

「More recently, reports stated that there were more than twice as many cyberattacks during the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games as during the London Olympics, with the most prominent attacks involving ransomware that encrypted data on PCs and servers and demanded payment in exchange for restoration. However, the reports also stated that there was virtually no actual damage from the cyberattacks. Meanwhile, in response to the increase in ransomware attacks, the National center of Incident readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity (NISC) has taken measures including launching a dedicated ransomware website.」

「In the cybersecurity industry, as changes in working styles, including telework, and DX have progressed in both the public and private sectors, cyber risks have become more immediate threats, and security measures have become increasingly important for people's lives and socioeconomic activities. Recent incidents include extensive reports of concerns about the management of personal information on social media services used by government agencies and local authorities, and information leaks at multiple organizations using a project information-sharing tool used by contractors for projects ordered by government agencies and others after the tool suffered unauthorized external access. The National center of Incident readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity (NISC) has responded by, among other measures, issuing warnings.」

「The environment surrounding cybersecurity has seen a significant expansion in the scope of cyber risks and the damage they cause as changes in working styles, including the rapid adoption of telework, have progressed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.」

「In the network security industry, as changes in working styles, including telework, which has become established during the COVID-19 pandemic, and DX progress, the scope of cyber risks has expanded significantly, and the damage they cause continues to increase among both companies and individuals. Recent reports have described an electronic ticketing platform company suffering unauthorized access that may have resulted in the extraction of several million records of users' personal information, and a major game company suffering the leakage of hundreds of thousands of records of personal information and a cryptocurrency ransom demand following a ransomware infection. Security measures have therefore become increasingly important for people's lives and socioeconomic activities.」

「In the network security industry, as changes in working styles, including the increasingly established use of telework, and DX progress, the scope of cyber risks has expanded significantly, and the damage they cause continues to increase among both companies and individuals. In fact, malware infections of PCs used outside company premises, such as at home for telework, have increased sharply. In addition, reports that unauthorized withdrawals were made from multiple banks linked through a major telecommunications company's electronic payment service have highlighted that security measures are becoming increasingly important for people's lives and socioeconomic activities.」

「In the network security industry, as changes in working styles, including the rapid adoption of telework, have progressed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the scope of cyber risks and the damage they cause have expanded significantly. To conduct telework securely, it is necessary to implement security measures for systems designed for remote work, in addition to the security measures for conventional systems premised on working from an office. The importance of security is therefore increasing further.」

「In the network security industry, as the spread of COVID-19 has made it urgent for many companies to establish telework environments, cyberattacks targeting environments with weak security and phishing scams exploiting COVID-19 have increased sharply. Cybersecurity measures have therefore become an increasingly important issue for people's lives and socioeconomic activities.」

「In the network security industry, in addition to the frequent occurrence of cyberattacks on government agencies and critical infrastructure in Japan and overseas, the sharp increase in attacks on IoT devices has made efforts to strengthen countermeasures more visible.」

「In the network security industry, the frequency of cyberattacks on government agencies and critical infrastructure in Japan and overseas has made more visible efforts to strengthen countermeasures in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.」

「In the network security sector, cyberattacks targeting not only government agencies, including central government ministries and agencies, and companies but also individuals are becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated, while the damage they cause continues to expand. More recently, an incident involving the fraudulent use of a cashless payment service shortly after its launch, which affected many users, received extensive media coverage. Cybersecurity measures have therefore become an extremely important issue for people's lives and socioeconomic activities.」

「Amid increasing cyberattack threats, we have adopted our management slogan, "One Step Ahead of the Game ～ その一手先へ," to meet growing demand for security. We will promote management guided by our corporate philosophy, with the aim of driving innovation in the industry and creating a secure society.」

「In the network security industry, cyberattacks targeting not only government agencies and companies but also individuals are becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated, while the damage they cause continues to expand, prompting both the public and private sectors to step up their countermeasures further. Although technologies and services such as AI and IoT have the potential to bring many benefits to people, they inherently carry the risk of creating new threats if they cannot be controlled. In addition, if IoT devices operate unintentionally as a result of attacks or other causes and disrupt various operations, functions and services, this could threaten public safety and security. Cybersecurity measures have therefore become an extremely important issue for people's lives and socioeconomic activities.」

「In the network security industry, cyberattacks targeting not only government agencies and companies but also individuals are becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated, while the damage they cause continues to expand, prompting both the public and private sectors to step up their countermeasures further. As the shift toward IoT, in which everything is connected to the internet, and the adoption of cloud services by governments, local authorities and companies progress, IoT devices and cloud providers are expected to become new targets for cyberattacks. Cybersecurity measures have therefore become an extremely important issue for people's lives and socioeconomic activities.」

「To meet growing demand for security amid increasing cyberattack threats」

「In the network security industry, cyberattacks targeting not only government agencies and companies but also individuals are becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated, while the damage they cause continues to expand, prompting both the public and private sectors to step up their countermeasures further. More recently, reports of information leakage caused by unauthorized access and fraudulent use of internet banking and other services through phishing have highlighted that cybersecurity measures have become an extremely important issue for people's lives and socioeconomic activities.」

「In the network security industry, cyberattacks aimed at stealing confidential information and other data from government agencies and companies are becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated, while their targets continue to expand, prompting both the public and private sectors to step up their countermeasures further. More recently, extensive media coverage of the disclosure of a vulnerability in WPA2, the communications standard for wireless LAN (Wi-Fi), has highlighted that cybersecurity measures have become an extremely important issue for people's lives and socioeconomic activities.」

「In the network security industry, cyberattacks aimed at stealing confidential information and other data from government agencies and companies are becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated, while their targets continue to expand, prompting both the public and private sectors to step up their countermeasures further. More recently, ransomware attacks on a global scale, including in Japan, have received extensive media coverage, and cyberattacks are becoming threats that directly and seriously affect people's lives and socioeconomic activities.」

「In the network security industry, damage from cyberattacks continues to increase, prompting both the public and private sectors to step up their countermeasures further. In addition to the increase in information leakage through targeted attacks and damage caused by ransomware, the Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA) issued a warning about a sharp rise in website defacements targeting schools and other educational organizations, including universities.」

「In the network security industry, damage from cyberattacks continues to increase, prompting both the public and private sectors to step up their countermeasures further. In addition to the frequent leakage of information through targeted attacks and damage caused by ransomware, the Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA) issued a warning about a sharp increase in DDoS attacks resulting from malware infections on IoT devices.」

「In the network security industry, damage from cyberattacks continues to increase, prompting both the public and private sectors to step up their countermeasures further. More recently, in addition to attacks aimed at stealing information, ransomware attacks aimed at extorting payment have also increased. The Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA) issued a warning after receiving a succession of inquiries about ransomware.」

「In the network security industry, reports of security incidents, including the leakage of personal information through targeted attacks and credit card fraud, remain fresh in the public's memory. As the threat posed by cyberattacks has become commonplace, both the public and private sectors are stepping up their countermeasures further.」

「Cyberattacks have become commonplace, and the threats they pose are increasing day by day, prompting both the public and private sectors to step up their countermeasures further.」