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The story
Amid a string of personal data breaches from cyberattacks, the Japanese government set up a “Special Cyber Response Website” on October 30, consolidating consultation hotlines and advisory information. News reports put the scale of the leaks at a cumulative 260 million people — a figure that exceeds Japan’s entire population and quickly took on a life of its own. On 5ch, the thread was dominated by posts questioning what that number actually means, technical discussion of why unauthorized access incidents are surging, and comments expressing confusion over what the Digital Agency is actually doing — with many users openly doubting whether the government’s cyber response is effective at all.
Government Launches “Special Cyber Response Website”
10/30 (Fri) 12:48 — TV Asahi (ANN)
Amid a series of information leaks caused by cyberattacks, the government set up a “Special Cyber Response Website” on the 30th, compiling consultation hotlines for victims and advisory information.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
GMO and the Takaichi administration (six months ago)
https://gmo.connpass.com/event/383158/
What were these guys even doing?
GMO Internet Group's predecessor, "Voice Media," was a voice information service company founded in 1991 by Masatoshi Kumagai, the company's founder.
Asahi Shimbun
How Dial Q2 was used and adapted:
Kumagai reportedly adapted the mechanism behind NTT's paid voice information service "Dial Q2" (a system that billed information fees together with the phone bill), developing and selling his own teleconferencing equipment to grow the business.
Does that mean 140 million of those are foreigners?
It's probably the same person's data leaking from multiple places.
Active email addresses and phone numbers were always the most valuable part anyway.
https://imgur.com/kgnCq1c.jpeg
So that's more than two rounds of 240 million eyes — meaning it beats "Exotic Japan" x2, huh?
Going back to a slow life for a while wouldn't be so bad lol.
Not being able to see you guys would be rough though.
Being cumbersome and only able to handle small amounts is both a drawback and an advantage.
It's basically the same as "if you can't drive safely, don't speed."
Don't embarrass me!
https://imgur.com/VNh0M0v.jpeg
Throw in the media executives' too, please.
Anyway, I have no idea what route or purpose would lead Chinese tourists all the way out there.
There's a new direct flight from Taiwan to Aomori, and Aomori Prefecture has been actively courting Taiwanese tourists.
the Digital Agency's presence is basically invisible lol lol lol
What are those guys even doing?
Isn't the Digital Agency basically unrelated to this?
It's unrelated? What does the Digital Agency even do on a normal day?
If the average citizen heard "the Digital Agency has nothing to do with this," they'd probably lose it.
By the way, I looked up Wikipedia just now for why the Digital Agency even exists and read its founding purpose, and I honestly have no idea what it was established to do.
It says things like:
"Planning, drafting, and overall coordination of basic policies regarding measures for forming a digital society"
"Digitalization of the whole country"
"Participating as one member involved in digital infrastructure development within the 'Digital Administrative and Fiscal Reform Council,' which considers sustainable social development going forward"
"Securing and developing digital talent" / "1. Providing public services friendly to citizens, businesses, and staff" / "2. Promoting growth strategy through digital infrastructure development" / "3. Realizing safe, secure, and resilient digital infrastructure"
"Building public and private infrastructure for the digital age all at once"
"Our mission is: 'A people-friendly digitalization where no one is left behind.'"
That's what it says. So what do they actually do?
You didn't know? Up until now, security holes that allow unauthorized access had to be found by humans — but now AI can find them too. And way faster than humans ever could.
Back in the day, you could start a moped's engine just by sticking scissors in and turning it, right? This is basically the digital version of that — same old story, just updated.
Honestly, the old phone books were probably worth more, unless we're talking bank account or credit card info.
I recall hearing somewhere that the Soviet secret police did so much wiretapping that they drowned in their own flood of information and it backfired on them. Well, apparently China is using — or rather, abusing — AI to suppress free speech, so they might actually pull something off with this. Can't really let our guard down.
That stage has already begun — hijacking the business's own systems outright, like with GMO.
Since 2019 it's been prosecuted and the report has sat on the National Police Agency Commissioner's desk.
With the 2025 dollar system it was prosecuted and proven, and there are responses from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Imperial Household Agency too.
You guys are into some real masochistic stuff lol
In GMO's case, isn't it actually GMO itself that's freezing customers' money by keeping their PCs powered off, rather than the hackers? The hackers haven't actually stolen any customer money. That weird hacker pride of "we only target the company, not individuals" is probably going to break down — and then individuals will start getting targeted directly.
"Please protect your own information yourself."
Nothing but despair.
Come on, Furukawa, say something too — allocate like a trillion yen to security already. Quit dumping money into pointless old-fashioned military spending and get the government moving on actual security defense for real.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
The figure “a cumulative 260 million people” is easy to misread, since it far exceeds Japan’s total population (roughly 120 million). “Cumulative” means the total counts overlapping leaks — i.e., the same person’s data being leaked by multiple different companies gets counted each time — so it doesn’t mean 260 million distinct individuals were actually affected. This same misunderstanding surfaced in the thread, and was resolved when reply #123 pointed out that “it’s probably the same person’s data leaking from multiple places.” Another recurring point in the thread is the role of the Digital Agency. Even quoting its official founding mission, posters said they still couldn’t tell what the agency actually does, reflecting a broader sense that the public isn’t being clearly told who’s actually responsible for handling cyberattacks. One cited factor behind the rising number of incidents is that attackers are now using AI to find vulnerabilities faster than human researchers can.
※This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (News Flash+) thread “Government Launches “Special Cyber Response Website”… Personal Data of a Cumulative 260 Million People Leaked via Unauthorized Access“.
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