World News by Wild Rose

Tokyo, Oct. 23 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Friday that the government will step up cybersecurity measures across relevant ministries and agencies in response to a recent series of personal data breaches caused by cyberattacks. "Under the leadership of the prime minister's office, we will develop the necessary framework and accelerate measures at relevant minist...

Tokyo, Oct. 23 (Jiji Press)--Japanese industry minister Ryosei Akazawa on Friday announced a plan to establish a team of so-called white hat hackers, or ethical experts with advanced cybersecurity knowledge, to strengthen the country's cyber defenses. The minister told a press conference that he has instructed industry ministry staff to set up the team at the government-affiliated Innovatio...

Tokyo, Oct. 23 (Jiji Press)--Apple Inc. released its first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, in Japan on Friday. The phone features a 7.6-inch screen, the largest ever on an iPhone and 1.5 times that of the iPhone 18 Pro Max, which hit stores last month. When folded, the iPhone Duo is about the same size as a passport. Prices start at 364,800 yen. Two apps can be displayed side-by-side...

Tokyo, Oct. 22 (Jiji Press)--Japan's industry ministry is mulling a plan to launch a team of so-called white hat hackers, or ethical security experts with advanced cybersecurity knowledge, to assist companies in responding to cyberattacks, it was learned Thursday. In light of a recent string of cyberattacks in the country, the ministry is considering establishing a framework at the Innovati...

Tokyo, Oct. 22 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government, in a rare move, has repeatedly urged people to take precautions after critical vulnerabilities were detected in the PHP programming language, which is widely used for websites. The moves reflected concerns that a delayed response could deal a blow to the economy and society, especially given the recent string of personal data breaches ca...

Tokyo, Oct. 22 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Canon Inc. plans to increase semiconductor lithography equipment production in 2027 by up to twofold from this year, it has been learned. The move comes as chipmakers around the world are increasing investment for higher production on the back of rapidly growing semiconductor demand reflecting the spread of artificial intelligence technologies. Lithogr...

Tokyo, Oct. 22 (Jiji Press)--Companies and organizations in Japan have scrambled to take precautionary measures after critical vulnerabilities were detected in the PHP programming language. Financial institutions temporarily suspended their services on Thursday as a precaution. Japanese megabank MUFG Bank said on its website that it has halted some transactions through its online banking se...

Tokyo, Oct. 22 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government has not received any reports of damage caused by critical vulnerabilities in the PHP programming language, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Thursday. Kihara said the government will continue to issue warnings about the problem. He called on citizens to install security patches to address the vulnerabilities, adding that temporar...

Tokyo, Oct. 22 (Jiji Press)--Japan's National Police Agency plans to introduce cashless payments for minor traffic violations from July 2027, allowing offenders, including cyclists, to pay fines by credit card, smartphone payment services or other cashless means, agency officials said Thursday. The system will be rolled out nationwide in phases. The agency will solicit bids for a contractor...

Tokyo, Oct. 21 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday night warned of critical vulnerabilities identified in the PHP programming language widely used on websites around the world. After PHP developers said that a patch to fix the issue would be released late Wednesday night Japan time, Takaichi, in a post on X, formerly Twitter, urged users to prepare to apply the...

Tokyo, Oct. 21 (Jiji Press)--Personal information on some 125,000 police officers and staff members in Japan may have been compromised following unauthorized access to cloud service operator Arcadia Inc., National Police Agency officials said Wednesday. Over 18,000 email addresses of citizens and companies registered for a security notification service may have been exposed as well. Twen...

Tokyo, Oct. 21 (Jiji Press)--Major Japanese banks are increasingly shifting their identity verification methods for applicants to open accounts online to scanning of integrated circuit chip-embedded cards, following a series of data breaches. Japan will enforce in April 2027 new regulations under the revised law to prevent the transfer of criminal proceeds, requiring financial institutions a...

Tokyo, Oct. 21 (Jiji Press)--Japan's IwaiCosmo Securities Co. said that unauthorized trading orders not intended by customers were placed through seven accounts following a cyberattack on Trade Works Co., which operates its online trading system. Trades were executed in five of the seven accounts, the securities firm said Tuesday. Trade Works' system was subjected to unauthorized access o...

Tokyo, Oct. 20 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Leading-edge Semiconductor Technology Center, or LSTC, whose members include chipmaker Rapidus Corp., and other entities said Tuesday that they will jointly develop an artificial intelligence-based medical image-processing system. The project members, also including Hokkaido University and Fujifilm Corp., aim to realize real-time image processing required...

Tokyo, Oct. 20 (Jiji Press)--Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday drew up a set of emergency proposals, including a request for the government to set up a headquarters to counter cyberattacks under the initiative of the prime minister's office, following a recent series of unauthorized computer access leading to personal data breaches at companies in the country. The LDP's Hea...

Tokyo, Oct. 20 (Jiji Press)--A Chinese artificial intelligence tool called Artex is likely to have been used in cyberattacks targeting Japanese companies, an investigation by a Japanese cybersecurity business has found. GMO Cybersecurity by Ierae Inc., a subsidiary of GMO Internet Group Inc., traced cyberattacks targeting Japanese companies to six servers, all of which used Artex, an AI-pow...

Tokyo, Oct. 20 (Jiji Press)--East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, on Tuesday launched the "teppay" code payment service through its Mobile Suica smartphone app. The service is scheduled to become available on the Mobile Pasmo app next spring. It enables users of the apps, which are linked to the Suica and Pasmo smart transit card systems, respectively, to transfer money between their accou...

Tokyo, Oct. 19 (Jiji Press)--The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, plans to develop a new medium-term vision in light of an accelerating decline in the country's population and the spread of artificial intelligence, its chairman, Yoshinobu Tsutsui, said Monday. "Looking ahead to 2050, we will draw up a vision for the economy and society that we should aim for," he said at a symposium...

Tokyo, Oct. 19 (Jiji Press)--Subaru Corp. plans to launch a software-defined vehicle, or SDV, which can improve performance through software updates, in the latter half of the 2020s, using a new electronic control unit to integrate vehicle controls and driver-assistance functions, according to company officials. "We want to make SDVs convenient to use, rather than pack them with extremely ad...

Tokyo, Oct. 19 (Jiji Press)--Japan aims to strengthen its investigative capabilities using advanced technology, including artificial intelligence, to tackle cyberattacks and "tokuryu" loosely organized anonymous criminal groups, National Public Safety Commission Chairman Yasuhiro Hanashi has said. "We need to respond without delay to protect safety and security, which are the foundation of ...

Nagoya, Oct. 17 (Jiji Press)--Toyota Motor Corp. plans to make all of its roughly 50 vehicle models software-defined vehicles, whose functionality can be enhanced through software updates, by 2030, company officials have said. The move is aimed at establishing a business model under which its software platform is installed in about 10 million new vehicles produced worldwide each year, genera...

Tokyo, Oct. 16 (Jiji Press)--Sony Corp. said Friday that it will release a flagship model of its Walkman portable digital music player on Nov. 27, with the price expected to be around 655,000 yen. The new gold-colored model incorporates various measures to enhance sound quality. In the back, high-purity copper plated with gold replaces aluminum to improve conductivity. According to Sony, ...

Tokyo, Oct. 16 (Jiji Press)--More Japanese companies on Friday made announcements regarding customer data breaches due to cyberattacks. Yamato Transport Co. said that 5.31 million sets of personal information belonging to some users of its deferred payment service were compromised in a breach that the logistics firm had first announced on Sept. 29. The affected personal information, incl...

Tokyo, Oct. 16 (Jiji Press)--Central Japan Railway Co., or JR Tokai, said Friday that it will introduce a new Shinkansen bullet train model equipped with an autonomous operation system for the first time. JR Tokai aims to put the new S0 Series model into service on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines in July 2029. It will be the first fully remodeled one in nine years. The S0 Series tr...

Humanoid robots were seen performing the “Macarena” at the annual CEATEC technology exhibition in Chiba, Japan.

Tokyo, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)--IDC Frontier Inc., a cloud service subsidiary of Japanese telecommunications and technology company SoftBank Corp., said Wednesday that no breaches of customer information it stores has been confirmed following unauthorized access last week. IDC Frontier explained that an investigation conducted with an external security firm found no evidence that data had been...

Tokyo, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)--Japan aims to strengthen soft power diplomacy, leveraging its pop culture such as manga and anime. The government plans to actively use popular works to gain more fans of Japan in Global South emerging and developing countries, and to enhance Japan's influence in the broader international community. The Foreign Ministry requested 1.83 billion yen under the go...

Tokyo, Oct. 13 (Jiji Press)--Sushi and other food delivery service operator Ride On Express Holdings Co. said Tuesday that the personal information of up to about 6.5 million registered customers may have been compromised through unauthorized server access. According to the company, the affected data includes the names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth and encry...

Chiba, Oct. 13 (Jiji Press)--Artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge digital technologies are on display as the CEATEC international exhibition opened on Tuesday at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba, a city near Tokyo, joined by 821 companies and organizations from Japan and abroad. "As societal challenges become increasingly complex, it is important not only to create new...

Tokyo, Oct. 11 (Jiji Press)--Massive driver's license data breaches that recently hit the Times Car vehicle-sharing service in Japan due to a cyberattack have made many people in the country scramble to seek reissuance of their licenses. The move apparently reflects concerns about the possibility of their driver's license data being abused. Still, police say that driver's license renewal wo...