Japan to seek early access to software vulnerability data from US AI firms

Japan plans to seek earlier ⁠access ⁠to information on undisclosed software vulnerabilities from US artificial intelligence developers and other overseas technology firms as it moves to ‌strengthen defences against rising cyberattacks, the Nikkei ‌newspaper ‌reported.

The government ‌is expected to present an ⁠emergency cybersecurity package at a ministerial meeting that could be convened as early as Friday, the report added.

In late October, ​Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi instructed officials to devise steps to bolster cyber defences ⁠following a recent increase in cyberattacks, according to Nikkei.

Government and corporate websites in several countries were disrupted in October after the disclosure of critical vulnerabilities in the PHP programming language that underpins much of the internet, prompting millions of hacking attempts and ​forcing website operators to protect ⁠or temporarily shut down their ⁠systems.

As organisations scrambled to mitigate PHP risks, Japan said it ​would set up a team to simulate ‌cyberattacks using ⁠AI to identify weaknesses in technology systems.

Tokyo will now explore ways to obtain information about serious software ‌vulnerabilities before they are publicly disclosed to help government agencies and operators of critical infrastructure respond more quickly, Nikkei said.

Japan had ​recently sought expanded access to advanced AI models from major US developers, including Anthropic and OpenAI, in response to ‌a wave ⁠of cyberattacks believed ​to have been aided by AI, Nikkei added.