Japan Declares 'State of Emergency in Cyberspace' After AI-Enabled Hacks Hit 20+ Firms Including Lawson and JR East

Japan's National Cybersecurity Strategy Headquarters convened an emergency meeting Friday after more than 20 prominent firms, including Lawson, Times Car and JR East (1.67M email addresses exposed), were hit by cyberattacks compromising tens of millions of customer records. NCSH head Masaaki Taira called it an 'emergency in cyberspace' and cybersecurity minister Toshiharu Furukawa described the situation as 'extremely critical.' Officials and analysts cite AI's role in lowering barriers for attackers and helping foreign actors bypass Japanese-language hurdles that previously limited targeting.