'Carpet-Bombed' by AI Cyberattacks as Domestic Damage Mounts

Why This Topic Landed in Japan

The day before, a seven-nation joint warning about a China-backed cyber group and a "once every 13 seconds" attack figure had been in the news, so a sense that the country's defenses could not keep up was already building. Two new things then arrived at once: a report that a Google threat analyst warned every threat now observed uses AI in some form and that Japan and South Korea are being "carpet-bombed," and concrete domestic damage—Nissui's logistics subsidiary halting all shipments and intake after unauthorized access, and a Bandai Namco group company (BNXP) leaking roughly 1,700 members' details (emails, passwords, usernames) through an outside vendor. With a disruption to food logistics—something that touches daily life—landing at the same moment, the abstract threat talk turned quickly into immediate worry. Google's actual point was narrower: that threat actors can be assumed to use AI in some form, not that literally every threat does. Nissui has said the intrusion hit a contractor's data center and that the information it manages was not on the affected servers. Whether the Nissui case involved AI, and whether Japan and South Korea are truly being "carpet-bombed," remains unconfirmed.

Key Reaction Themes

• Distrust of slow defenses and government (most common) — "Can't the defenders use AI?", "the government is too slow," "weakest among developed nations."
• Suspicion about who is behind it — China or Russia, with the twist that "China's getting hit too, they just don't say so."
• Analog retreat and resigned self-deprecation — "back to fax and paper," "withdraw some cash," "the barter era is coming."
• Concrete worry about daily life — "will next week's co-op delivery be okay," "my fridge will end up empty."

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

A Google analyst's "AI carpet-bombing" warning

A Google threat analyst was reported to warn that every observed threat now uses AI and that Japan and South Korea are being "carpet-bombed."

Sources: 2ch

Comments:

• "Glad I've still got tatami."
• "Can't the defending side use AI too?"
• "Apparently it's surging in Singapore too."
• "Has Skynet begun?"
• "ChatGPT really is something."
• "Is it China or Russia doing it—or could it even be North Korea or Israel?"
• "So they used AI to hunt for security holes."
• "It looks like the US is in even worse shape, though."
• "Leaving it to AI is easy, so of course they'll use it."
• "China's getting hit by this too; they just don't say so."
• "Doesn't this mean we're being used as a test bed for US-China AI security development?"
• "Thanks to AI, it's an era where even idiots can hack."
• "Fight AI with AI."
• "AI really is all-purpose. Instead of just taking the hits, Japan needs to build an AI-based cyber-defense system too."

Nissui's shipment halt and a Bandai Namco leak

Nissui's logistics subsidiary halted all shipments after a cyberattack, and a Bandai Namco group company leaked member data via a vendor.

Sources: 2ch, Nikkei

Comments:

• "We got hit recently too, didn't we? Aren't they taking any countermeasures?"
• "From now on it's the age of fax and paper slips."
• "Let's go back to the Stone Age!"
• "Everyone, withdraw some cash! Credit cards and e-payments are going to get dicey too—worst case, even the banks go down."
• "Why has this suddenly become so common lately?"
• "In cyber warfare Japan might be the weakest among developed nations…"
• "Not taking countermeasures is honestly beyond me—or maybe the company doesn't even grasp what was done to it."
• "Nichirei, then Nissui—is Ajinomoto next?"
• "Ah… so if the logistics subsidiary gets attacked, everything clogs up."
• "Will next week's co-op delivery be okay? My fridge is going to end up empty."
• "The barter era is coming—I'll stock up on salt and dried noodles."
• "What have they got against frozen food?! (furious)"
• "Government, move already—you're way too slow. How long are you going to stick with timid 'awareness notices' and 'requests to respond'?"
• "Way too many data leaks. Japanese companies are a disaster, lol."
• "It's only a matter of time before banks and government offices get hit too, isn't it?"