This week we were perplexed by the news of the cyberattack on Japan's cybersecurity agency. Although there is no specific information about the attack confirmed by official sources, it is suspected that Chinese hackers violated sensitive information on the agency's networks. What surprises us most is that this was discovered nine months after it happened.
Japan has a history as an innovative country. Some of the big technology firms that have stood out and that you surely know are; Nintendo, Sony, Honda and Casio, among others. For many years it was a technological benchmark and it stopped being so for a couple of decades when countries like Korea and Taiwan got ahead of the race.
And for a couple of years, Japan has been investing again in R&D (research and development). According to Christoph Siepmann of Generali Investments, “in the sixth Basic Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation, Japan set the goal of reaching 120 trillion yen [about 770 billion euros] in R&D investment across public and private sectors during five years starting in fiscal year 2021. Their objective is to make society 5.0 a reality.
And to all this, what does this cyberattack mean for us?
For starters, we have to open our eyes. If this happened to the cybersecurity agenda of a government that prioritizes technology in its budget, it is certain that this could happen to anyone. And by “anyone”, we mean people, companies, government bodies and even critical infrastructure of countries.
We have to get used to the idea that as our lives continue to migrate to the internet and cyberspace, we will also have to adapt our education and our security priorities. Protecting that intangible value, which in many cases is paired with economic value, must be our priority.
The above covers everything from the image of our children on social networks and our bank account apps, to the information files of government agencies, and the thousands of data that we generate and store every second.
If we already know that we are vulnerable, is everything lost?
At CyberLat we believe that one of the most important components for cybersecurity is training. Find out about how to protect your accounts, the privacy policies of the apps you use, the vulnerabilities of your devices, etc. There are no excuses, we have more information than ever at our fingertips.
If you have an organization, start by asking yourself the following questions; How do you safeguard your information? Do you know what vulnerabilities exist throughout the value chain? Do you have an action plan in case of a cyberattack?
We know that making a diagnosis of an organization may not be easy. Count on CyberLat to help you, it's time to get to work so that a vulnerability does not become a threat and later on, in economic losses. Write to us at contact@cyber.lat to schedule a call with an advisor.