This talk will share information on Japan’s recent cybersecurity efforts, especially those less well-known in English-speaking countries, in order to facilitate mutual understanding and future UK-Japan cooperation. After the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in late February, the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force in March hosted a virtual cyber exercise with their Australian, French, Indonesian, Philippine, Vietnamese, and US counterparts, with the objective of enhancing their capabilities against hybrid warfare. This was the first multilateral cyber exercise in the world after the outbreak of the war.

Japan will soon release an updated version of its National Security Strategy to reflect technological changes as well as heightened tensions in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region. With Japan and the UK deepening their security collaboration and sharing increasing amounts of intelligence over the last couple of years, cybersecurity will remain the linchpin of the partnership.

About the contributors

Mihoko Matsubara

Mihoko Matsubara is Chief Cybersecurity Strategist at the NTT Corporation, Tokyo, where she is responsible for cybersecurity thought leadership. She served at the Japanese Ministry of Defense before her MA at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies on a Fulbright Scholarship. Prior to joining NTT, she worked as Vice President and Public Sector Chief Security Officer for Asia-Pacific at Palo Alto Networks. She served on the Japanese government’s cybersecurity R&D policy committee between 2014 and 2018. She is Adjunct Fellow at the Pacific Forum, Honolulu, and Associate Fellow for Cyber at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London. She published a cybersecurity book in Japanese from the Shinchosha Publishing Co., Ltd. in 2019, which won an award from the Okawa Foundation for Information and Telecommunications in 2020.