Japan unveils $63m emergency plan to fight cyberattacks

Tokyo: Japan launched an multi-million dollar emergency policy package on Friday to address a sudden wave of hacking incidents. 

The country's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has vowed to take action after dozens of businesses reported unauthorised access in recent weeks to their systems and potential leaks of client data.

Hacks and data breaches have ballooned worldwide, with AI's ability to find previously unknown ways to break into computer systems in the global spotlight.

"In light of the current situation involving increasingly serious cyberattacks, all ministers present today have put their heads together to formulate an 'emergency countermeasures package,'” Takaichi told her ministers on Friday.

The package would initially be funded by 10 billion yen ($63 million) available in the government's budget but the overall cost would likely be higher with the premier asking her finance minister to figure out how to free up funds for the entire plan. 

The package includes security countermeasures partly through the use of AI, strengthening of investigation systems, and reinforcement of support for victims and measures to prevent the spread of damage, she said.

Media reports have said the package includes the creation of a "cyber rescue team" made up of both government and private sector experts.

The government will set up a secretariat within the current fiscal year to coordinate the deployment of the rescue team when support needs are particularly acute, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily, Jiji Press and other reports said.

Takaichi did not mention the cyber rescue team but said that mobilisation was needed to "to keep up with the speed of cyberattacks in the AI era.

"Even at this very moment, incidents of unauthorised access and information leaks are occurring one after another, having a major impact on the lives of our citizens and on corporate activities," she said.

"Let us mobilise the full capabilities of the government to strengthen our nation’s overall capacity to respond," she added.

Chinese artificial intelligence cybersecurity tool Artex was used in several recent hacks of Japanese companies, an information security arm of Japanese IT firm GMO Internet Group Inc said last month. 

GMO Internet Group itself is among those that have come under attack.