Japan needs to plug cybersecurity gap before 2020

Japan needs 190,000 cybersecurity professionals needed by 2020, especially with the 2019 Rugby World Cup and the Olympics in 2020 so close.

Matsubara.

At Cybertech Asia Mihoko Matsubara, Adjunct Fellow, Pacific Forum, said that the wake-up call on cybersecurity began in 2011, with a cyber espionage incident against the government, continuing with the 2013 win of the bid to host the Olympics.

"2020 sends a clear deadline and also momentum for industry and government to work together, not just with Japanese people but also international vendors," she said. 

According to Matsubara, the two focus areas that Japan needs help on are cybersecurity training, and for the protection of critical infrastructure. "It is impossible to close this huge gap overnight," she said. "We will automate some cyberdefence work to mitigate the gap. Japan also needs to invest in cybersecurity defence and training."

Since 2011, Japan has been working on boosting its cyberdefences, Matsubara said. A Cyber Defense Unit was set up in 2014 by the Ministry of Defense and Self-Defense Forces, while the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Information-technology Promotion Agency set up the Industrial Cyber Security Center of Excellence in 2017. A cross-industry initiative to boost cybersecurity began in 2016, involving companies such as NTT, Hitachi and NEC, she added.

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