TrendAI™, the AI‑driven security unit of Trend Micro, issued a new advisory after Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party National Cybersecurity Strategy Headquarters warned that “cyberspace is in a state of emergency.” The company’s forward‑looking threat research shows Japan logged more publicly disclosed cyber incidents in the first nine months of 2026 than it did during the entire previous year.
September alone saw 86 incidents, an increase of about 18% from August and 37% from July. Breaches at retailers, financial‑services firms, a car‑sharing service and a rail operator have exposed the data of millions of customers.
Government response
The party’s headquarters met on Oct. 9 and called on the national government to deepen public‑private cooperation. Japan’s National Cybersecurity Office has sent guidance to ministries, local governments and private firms, emphasizing strong passwords, up‑to‑date protection and tighter supply‑chain security.
TrendAI findings
TrendAI’s incident‑response team notes attackers are exploiting known vulnerabilities in public‑facing applications to plant web shells, then attempting privilege escalation, lateral movement or database access. The firm provides Japanese‑language analysis and hardening guidance for affected organizations.
“Cyberattacks are increasing globally, and while AI may not be directly involved, its ability to help attackers find targets and automate operations makes attacks more scalable,” said Ryan Flores, co‑lead of TrendAI’s Forward‑Looking Threat Research. “Organizations need to shrink their cyber exposure and close vulnerabilities to lower the odds of being victimized.”
Robert McArdle, director of the same research unit, added, “AI has zero cost for cybercriminals. There’s already a robust economy for stolen accounts, APIs and tokens, driving increasingly automated campaigns. The current surge in Japan should be seen as the new baseline of attacks that will only increase in volume, speed and relentlessness.”
Recommendations
- Patch internet‑facing systems first and maintain an accurate inventory of web servers, applications and cloud services.
- Harden web servers by restricting write access, isolating upload directories and monitoring for unauthorized changes.
- Watch database access and run applications with minimum‑privilege accounts.
- Vet suppliers and confirm they can operate independently of a single provider.
- Strengthen identity verification beyond simple photo uploads, using chip‑based methods where possible.
- Bring AI usage into scope, assessing provenance, reputation and access controls for all AI models and agents.
TrendAI also highlighted its Vision One™ platform, which offers unified visibility, observability, actionability and governance across endpoints, cloud, identity, data and AI. New AI‑risk capabilities, including AI Gateway and AI Risk Insights, are slated for general availability in January 2027.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
