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The first day of a two-day meeting of the Group of Seven digital and technology ministers in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan. Photo: Kyodo

Cyberattacks increased in Japan ahead of G7 meeting about AI risks, digital infrastructure

  • DDoS attacks, which attempted to disrupt the online traffic of a server or network by overwhelming it with data, were mostly fixed quickly, sources said
  • ‘There is a possibility that [Japan] is being targeted as the host of the G7 summit, and we have warned relevant organisations to stay alert,’ an official said
Japan

The number of cyberattacks against companies and government offices in Japan has been increasing since March, sources familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

Troubles caused by DDoS attacks, which attempt to disrupt the online traffic of a server or network by overwhelming it with data, were mostly fixed quickly, the sources said.

The news was revealed on the day ministers from G7 nations began a two-day meeting in eastern Japan in which high-priority issues in the digital sphere, including artificial intelligence governance and building secure and resilient infrastructure, were to be discussed.

The meeting is one in a series of ministerial meetings taking place in the run-up to the G7 summit next month.

“There is a possibility that [Japan] is being targeted as the host of the G7 summit, and we have warned relevant organisations to stay alert,” an official at the National centre of Incident readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity said.

Tsunehiko Suzuki, a professor of information engineering at Chukyo University, said the attacks may have come as part of preparations for launching a full-scale attack.

The series of attacks began around March 14 and are still ongoing, he said.

Japan eyes tighter curbs to counter cyberattacks in move aimed at China

West Japan Railway was attacked between April 20 and 21, while Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings was similarly affected on April 22, with their websites briefly becoming inaccessible.

Some local governments, including Osaka, Aichi and Kumamoto prefectures, also came under attack. In Nara, prefectural and municipal officials suffered a delay in email servers and could not access the internet following an attack on Wednesday.

Some websites of central government offices, including one for the Cabinet Office’s public relations, were also affected.

It is believed that the same hacker group carried out the attacks due to the similarity of methods employed in the incidents, the sources said.

West Japan Railway is one of a number of companies that has experienced cyberattacks. Photo: AFP

The two-day G7 Digital and Tech Ministers’ Meeting in the Gunma Prefecture city of Takasaki, northwest of Tokyo, will include the promotion of technologies to improve the flow of cross-border data and a free and open internet.

The rapid progress of AI development has highlighted the need for international standards to govern the technology, with many countries stepping up regulations on the use of OpenAI’s ChatGPT over privacy concerns.

In addition to opposing uses that would undermine democratic values, the G7 digital ministers are aiming to adopt an action plan to promote the responsible use of AI, calling for broad stakeholder participation in developing international standards.

China to embrace AI advances but also control risks as ChatGPT wave spreads

The ministers are also expected to draw up an action plan for internet governance, addressing issues such as fake news and other forms of disinformation seen, for example, during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Constructing secure network infrastructure to support emerging and developing countries, and promoting collaboration to improve the connectivity of undersea cables in light of geopolitical risks, will also be a topic of discussion during the meeting.

Digital ministers are additionally aiming to establish an international framework for Data Free Flow with Trust, a concept proposed by Japan at the World Economic Forum annual summit in 2019 to facilitate economic growth on a global scale through free data flows across borders with trusted interoperable governance.

While Japan has already signed bilateral agreements in digital trade with the European Union, United States and Britain, the DFFT framework seeks to take this to the multilateral level.

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The G7 meeting, jointly chaired by Digital Minister Taro Kono, Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Takeaki Matsumoto and Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, will also focus on innovative governance necessary to facilitate disruptive technologies like cyber-physical systems.

Such intelligent systems are representative of the digital transformation envisioned by the Japanese government, where the cyber- and physical world are seamlessly integrated, and quality of life is improved through optimised processes and better decision-making.

The G7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the EU. Japan holds the rotating G7 presidency for the first time since 2016.

Ministers from India and Indonesia, this year’s respective hosts of meetings of the Group of 20 major economies and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as well as Ukraine have been invited to the meeting.

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