Information-leakage incidents in Japan are surging, with the number of cases since September believed to have exceeded 100 million. Some experts also believe that advances in generative AI are driving increasingly sophisticated attacks.
Information leaks at familiar companies are spreading, and the possibility of leaks involving transportation infrastructure has also been raised. An analysis presented in the report found that the number affected has exceeded 105 million since September alone. Attacks are increasing in real time, with around 350 attempts per minute reportedly confirmed. The scale of the damage in Japan is particularly high by global standards, and some believe further disclosures may follow.
Advances in generative AI are cited as a contributing factor. AI enables more sophisticated and faster attacks, and the removal of language barriers is said to have led to more attempts to target Japan. Japan is considered an attractive target because it has abundant assets and large stores of personal information. One view holds that the actual scale of the damage may be more than 10 times greater than the reported figures.
Measures introduced to protect personal information included avoiding password reuse, enabling multifactor authentication for online banking, and using bookmarks for official websites to reduce phishing losses. For unauthorized credit card use, regular statement checks and reporting incidents to the card issuer were described as important.
Information cited in support of these claims showed that personal information is bought and sold on the dark web, with drivers’ license and passport data traded at low prices. Experts shared the view that measures should be taken on the assumption that information on the entire population has been leaked, and awareness efforts to prevent information leaks are expected to continue.