The Japanese Attack Landscape: Where is the Third Largest Economy Most Vulnerable?

Japan is the world’s third largest economy and a global automotive, manufacturing, financial, and telecommunication hub. This makes it a huge target for cyber attacks. In this report, Rapid7 researchers take a deep dive into Japan’s attack surface and discover interesting insights into the vulnerabilities of this economic juggernaut and illuminate the kinds of threats Japanese companies face from all over the world.

Here’s what we found:

• Some of the biggest vulnerabilities come from outside Japan
  While Japanese companies are major target for attackers, their overseas subsidiaries are particularly vulnerable for a number of reasons

• Manufacturing is a particularly vulnerable sector
  The Japanese economy is highly reliant on manufacturing, especially in the automotive industry and with its large global footprint makes it susceptible to attacks

• Financial companies are also high-value targets
  Given the country’s wealth and influence in the financial sector, these businesses are also highly vulnerable to cyber attacks, particularly their overseas subsidiaries