Japan's government decided Friday to tap 10 billion yen, about $63 million, from its fiscal 2026 budget reserve funds for cybersecurity, including 2 billion yen to use artificial intelligence to find vulnerabilities in critical government systems. The money comes the same day Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's cabinet holds a ministerial meeting on cybersecurity, where it is expected to announce a package of emergency measures responding to a run of data breaches.
The reserve-fund allocation, reported by Kyodo News, splits into three pieces. The largest, 4.1 billion yen, goes to upgrading police equipment for intelligence gathering, analysis and cybercrime investigations. Another 3.8 billion yen will strengthen the security of systems operated by the Digital Agency, alongside the 2 billion yen AI line item.
“We will work closely with relevant ministries to ensure that all necessary security measures are in place”— Satsuki Katayama, Finance Minister of Japan
The spending follows a surge in attacks on Japanese companies. Dozens of businesses have reported unauthorized access to their systems in recent weeks, along with potential leaks of client data, and Takaichi instructed officials in late October to devise steps to bolster cyber defenses.
Key facts
- 01Japan is tapping 10 billion yen, about $63 million, from fiscal 2026 reserve funds for cybersecurity.
- 022 billion yen will fund AI to find vulnerabilities in critical government systems; police get 4.1 billion yen.
- 03A public-private cyber rescue squad will get a coordinating secretariat by the end of fiscal 2026.
- 04Japan plans to seek early access to undisclosed vulnerability data from US AI developers, per the Nikkei.
- 05Tokyo had already sought expanded access to advanced AI models from Anthropic and OpenAI.
The emergency package's centerpiece is a public-private cyber rescue squad that can be dispatched to help organizations with their initial response to an attack, according to Jiji Press. A secretariat to coordinate the squad will be set up by the end of fiscal 2026. For serious incidents, the government will also send a joint response team drawn from the National Cybersecurity Office, related ministries and agencies, the police, the Defense Ministry and the Self-Defense Forces.
“will mark a starting point for shifting to a society with one of the world's highest levels of cyber resilience”— Minoru Kihara, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan
AI sits on both sides of the problem. Attacks this year have taken advantage of new open-source and AI-powered hacking tools, according to TrendAI, a unit of Tokyo-based Trend Micro, which said some are believed to come from Russian groups that may at times work with North Korean threat actors. Last month, an information security arm of GMO Internet Group, itself a target, said a Chinese AI cybersecurity tool called Artex was used in several recent hacks of Japanese companies.
Tokyo is also turning to US AI developers. The government plans to seek earlier access to information on undisclosed software vulnerabilities from US AI companies and other overseas technology firms, the Nikkei reported, so agencies and critical infrastructure operators can respond before flaws are made public. Japan had already sought expanded access to advanced models from Anthropic and OpenAI in response to a wave of cyberattacks believed to have been aided by AI.
That intelligence would feed a broader information-sharing framework. Japan plans to collect data from attacked companies, cybersecurity vendors, cloud service providers and others, and centralize it at the National Cybersecurity Office. The package also aims to bring security vendors and cloud providers into public-private coordination councils.
The October disclosure of critical vulnerabilities in the PHP programming language added urgency. It prompted millions of hacking attempts against government and corporate websites in several countries and forced operators to protect or temporarily shut down their systems, with Japanese companies carrying out widespread patching. As organizations scrambled, Japan said it would set up a team that uses AI to simulate cyberattacks and identify weaknesses in technology systems.
Jiji Press also reported that a "Top Gun Talent Team" of specialists will be deployed this month to simulate attacks, while the 2 billion yen reserve-fund line puts AI-driven vulnerability hunting directly inside the government's own critical systems.
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