Japan’s LDP Calls for Cybersecurity Task Force Amid AI-Assisted Attack Surge

Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has called for a dedicated government cybersecurity task force following a surge in cyberattacks affecting more than 20 companies across transport, retail, finance and cloud services. Macnica recorded 119 attacks through October 6, with 68% occurring since July. Reported incidents included the compromise of 1.67 million JR East email addresses, exposure of Times Car customers’ driving licence scans and a ransomware attack against IDC Frontier. JPCERT found evidence of attackers using AI tools to scan for known vulnerabilities and conduct attacks through APIs, although AI involvement was not established for every reported incident.

The LDP proposal calls for stronger cross-organizational coordination, AI-enabled defenses, government-funded security assistance and regulatory support for small and medium-sized businesses, infrastructure modernization and increased security budgets. It had not yet been formally submitted to the Prime Minister’s office. The reported attack methods underscore the importance of promptly remediating known vulnerabilities and strengthening API security, while the incidents highlight data-exposure and operational-disruption risks across multiple sectors.