Japan Rolls Out $63M Cyber Emergency Plan After Data Breach Wave

Japan isn't waiting around. On Friday in Tokyo, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi unveiled an emergency cybersecurity package worth 10 billion yen ($63 million), built around artificial intelligence and rapid-response teams, according to the Associated Press.

The trigger: a wave of massive data breaches that slammed dozens of companies and government agencies, leaving the country rattled. Takaichi told a ministerial meeting that fast reaction is non-negotiable now that attackers have AI on their side, and pushed both government offices and private firms to tighten up. She described unauthorized access and data leaks as an ongoing problem hitting people's daily lives and corporate operations, and called for all government resources to be thrown at the response.

A big piece of the plan is so-called active cyber defense, which Japan legalized in October. The government is beefing up its ability to reach into servers used by hackers as a preemptive move. If an attack looks like a threat to national security, officials from the Defense Ministry, the National Police Agency and the National Cybersecurity Office will move in as a support team.

Then there's the showpiece: a cybersecurity expert squad that the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is expected to assemble by the end of November. Dubbed a top gun team, its members will lean on AI to counter hackers and sniff out weak points in network systems, working alongside tech companies and advanced AI developers in friendly nations to keep Japan's know-how current.

The package also creates a cyber rescue team drawing experts from both the public and private sectors, ready to jump in with initial responses for companies that get hit. A separate group will help vulnerable businesses shore up their defenses before anything happens.

The endgame, per the government, is a resilient society where the public and private sectors share information, rush aid to victims and bounce back from damage — and cybersecurity ranked among the strongest in the world.