Japan faces an AI-assisted cyberattack wave with at least 81 incidents
A government energy-market website and a foreign-exchange platform are among the latest targets as AI tools lower the barrier for attackers.
Japan is confronting an unusually broad wave of cyberattacks in which criminals are using AI agents and automated offensive tools to find vulnerable targets. At least 81 incidents have been reported since July, nearly a third of the attacks recorded in the country over the previous three years, according to data cited by Bloomberg.
The latest cases include unauthorized access to an official website that publishes electricity and gas trading information. Days earlier, attackers claimed to have released customer data stolen from a currency-trading service operated by GMO Internet Group after demanding a $50 million ransom. GMO confirmed unauthorized access, data exfiltration and threats against customer accounts, and said it would not pay.
Security researchers say AI is not necessarily conducting every intrusion autonomously. Instead, attackers use it to analyze complex networks, identify weak systems, deliver capabilities and evade detection. A China-developed security-testing tool called ARTEX has been linked to attacks in Japan and South Korea. AI also helps foreign groups overcome the Japanese language barrier.
The scale has pushed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government toward emergency measures and more proactive monitoring of critical infrastructure. Japan remains exposed because many companies run outdated public-facing systems and the country has a shortage of experienced security staff. The lesson extends beyond Japan: AI is making indiscriminate attacks cheaper and faster, so organizations with neglected web infrastructure are becoming easier targets.
