Bank of Japan warns of cyber-attack vulnerability ahead of Olympic Games

[TOKYO] Japan's financial institutions must guard against cyber attacks ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, with nearly 40 per cent of banks and other firms experiencing attacks over the past three years, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) said on Friday.

The increasing threat of cyber attacks has prodded the Bank of England and other central banks to take action to ensure that banks, insurers and other financial firms minimise the impact of cyber attacks or technology outages.

In a BOJ survey conducted in September, nearly 40 per cent of respondents said they had experienced cyber attacks, and more than 10 per cent had suffered disruptions to their business.

Over 70 per cent believed the threat of cyber attacks has increased since 2017 - the last time the BOJ conducted a similar survey - while nearly 60 per cent said they have departments specialising in cyber incidents, the survey showed.

Still, about 60 per cent of the 402 financial institutions surveyed said they were not able to secure enough staff to oversee measures to deal with cyber attacks.

"Progress in digital technology has led to a sharp increase in cyber-security risks for financial institutions," the BOJ said in the survey.

"Cyber attacks may increase ahead of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games this year, which is a risk we must be vigilant to," it said.

Japan will host the 2020 Olympics in July and August.

REUTERS