TOKYO -- Japan faces a new "storm" of cyberattacks as criminals use stolen personal data and artificial intelligence to launch more targeted scams and intrusions, the chief executive of a leading cybersecurity firm warned on Monday.

Eva Chen, co-founder and CEO of Tokyo-listed Trend Micro, said hackers could combine information from multiple data breaches and train AI to impersonate individuals, launch phishing attacks and gain access to corporate systems.

"It's triggering the next big storm," the Taiwanese executive told reporters at the company's headquarters in Tokyo, warning of a "recurring chain-effect" in which stolen personal information could be used to carry out further attacks.

Chen's comments come as Japanese companies -- from brokerage firms and car rental services to popular e-commerce sites -- grapple with a surge in cyber incidents raising concerns about the misuse of customer data already exposed in recent breaches.

According to Trend Micro, Japan recorded 607 publicly disclosed cybersecurity incidents between January and September, already exceeding the 594 reported throughout 2025, with incidents surging in recent weeks.

Chen said the speed of ongoing attacks suggested that hackers were increasingly using AI to automate their operations. This includes exploiting stolen credentials to access corporate systems and extract more information.

In one case, she said, attackers managed to steal a company's entire customer database within four days of gaining access, with the information subsequently used for other purposes.

"We cannot specifically say which AI model" attackers were using, Chen said, but the speed of the attacks and the way stolen credentials were exploited suggested AI was already involved.

While cyberattacks are increasing globally Chen said Japan had become a particularly attractive target for financially motivated hackers, in part because of the country's wealth and its detailed, well-organized customer records.

"Japan's business [records], usually, are very, very clean," she said, suggesting such detailed information could be valuable to criminals seeking to carry out more targeted attacks.

Chen also pointed to the country's large manufacturing sector, where ransomware attacks can be particularly costly, as production disruptions can lead to significant financial losses.

Among the criminal groups identified by Trend Micro were Qilin and The Gentlemen, ransomware operators that Chen said were primarily motivated by financial gain rather than political objectives.

Another factor is the diminishing language barrier. Chen said fraudulent messages from overseas hackers had previously been relatively easy to identify because of their poor Japanese. AI now allows criminals to produce more convincing messages, making scams harder to detect.

Chen also suggested Japanese companies had been slow to modernize their defenses, having grown "a little bit too comfortable" with their existing infrastructure. For example, she said adoption of Trend Micro's corporate security platform stood at about 20% in Japan, compared with more than 50% globally.

In response to the growing threat, Trend Micro on Monday announced plans to provide Japanese businesses with up to 10 billion yen ($63 million) worth of cybersecurity software license credits, along with technical assistance to strengthen their defenses.

The initiative will initially prioritize large enterprises, critical infrastructure operators and smaller suppliers in their supply chains, the company said.