日本正面临一波由人工智能驱动的高强度网络攻击，这暴露了世界第三大经济体对一种新型黑客手段的脆弱性。
Japan is facing an intense wave of AI-powered cyberattacks that’s laid bare the vulnerability of one of the world’s largest economies to a new breed of hacking.
从券商到物流公司，数十起影响企业的事件已让数据泄露成为该国的常态。周三，政府表示，一个电力和天然气交易信息的官方网站遭到入侵，此前几天，黑客声称已发布货币交易平台GMO互联网集团大量敏感客户信息。
Dozens of incidents affecting companies from brokerages to delivery firms have made data leaks a regular part of life in the country. On Wednesday, the government said an official website for electricity and gas trading information was breached, days after hackers claimed they published a trove of sensitive customer information from the currency trading platform GMO Internet Group Inc.
这些事件紧随上周各国政府和企业争相防范一种名为PHP的常用编程语言曝光漏洞之后，导致瑞穗金融集团等公司推出紧急应对措施。
The events followed a rush last week by governments and companies to protect themselves from vulnerabilities in a common programming language known as PHP were revealed, leading companies like Mizuho Financial Group Inc. to roll out emergency measures.
这波网络攻击风险极高，因为日本的产业集团是全球科技供应链的关键环节，且该国拥有世界第二大储蓄池，所有这些都是黑客极具吸引力的目标。这场危机也迫使首相高市早苗加速推进将日本网络安全水平提升至同行国家水平的计划，这是她使国家更能抵御外部威胁议程的一部分。
The wave of cyberattacks comes with high stakes because Japan’s industrial conglomerates are key links in the global technology supply chain and the country boasts the world’s second-largest savings pool, all of which are attractive targets for hackers. The crisis is also forcing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to accelerate plans to bring Japan’s cybersecurity up to the levels of its peers, part of her agenda of making the nation more resilient to external threats.
趋势科技旗下TrendAI的AI安全与威胁研究副总裁汤姆·凯勒曼表示，日本今年正经历异常显著的网络犯罪激增。他表示，许多攻击可归因于知名的俄语网络犯罪集团，如LockBit和Qilin，在某些情况下，这些集团涉嫌与朝鲜黑客合作。
Japan is experiencing an unusually dramatic uptick in cybercrime this year, said Tom Kellermann, Vice-President of AI Security and Threat Research at TrendAI, a unit of Trend Micro Inc. Many of the attacks can be attributed to prominent Russian-speaking cybercriminal groups such as LockBit and Qilin, which are suspected to be collaborating with North Korean hackers in some instances, he said.
专家表示，AI智能体和开源黑客工具的出现，使得犯罪集团利用日本陈旧的基础设施、跨越日语障碍变得比以往任何时候都更容易。据Kellermann称，黑客正利用AI增强自身能力，部署该技术来分析复杂网络、寻找脆弱目标、投放攻击载荷并逃避检测。
Experts say the advent of AI agents and open-source hacking tools has made it easier than ever for criminal groups to take advantage of Japan’s outdated infrastructure and overcome the Japanese language barrier. Hackers are using AI to augment their abilities, deploying the technology to analyze complex networks and find vulnerable targets, deliver capabilities and evade detection, according to Kellermann.
据GMO Cybersecurity by Ierae Inc.网络犯罪对策中心主任福森大树介绍，一款名为ARTEX、由中国开发用于测试网络防御的AI工具，已被关联到近期许多攻击事件。上个月，同一工具还被关联到韩国多家银行接连遭遇的入侵事件。
An AI tool developed in China to test cyberdefenses known as ARTEX has been linked to many recent attacks, according to Daiki Fukumori, director of cybercrime countermeasures center at GMO Cybersecurity by Ierae Inc. The same tool was linked to a rash of breaches at South Korean banks last month.
这一连串攻击导致日本网络安全形势发生转变，引发对广泛风险的担忧，独立智库Macnica Security Research Center副主任关山丰表示：“黑客正在无差别攻击公开可访问的Web系统，特别是那些处理个人数据的系统。他们正在从脆弱网站窃取一切能获取的信息。”日本面临网络威胁的暴露程度长期以来一直是焦虑之源。
The spate of attacks has led to a shift in Japan’s cybersecurity, resulting in concerns about widespread risks, according to Yutaka Sejiyama, deputy director of the Macnica Security Research Center, an independent think-tank. “Hackers are indiscriminately attacking publicly accessible web systems, particularly those that handle personal data,” Sejiyama said. “They are stealing whatever information they can obtain from vulnerable websites.”
去年，一起毁灭性的勒索软件攻击导致朝日集团控股株式会社业务停摆。Askul株式会社也遭遇入侵，其电商平台受阻。2020年，中国军方黑客在东京毫不知情的情况下渗透了日本防卫网络，美国政府官员随后飞抵东京向日方通报了该漏洞，据《华盛顿邮报》报道。
Japan’s exposure to cyber threats has long been an issue of anxiety. Last year, a crippling ransomware attack halted operations at Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. Askul Corp. also suffered a breach that disrupted its e-commerce platform. In 2020, Chinese military hackers infiltrated Japan’s defense networks without Tokyo’s awareness, and US government officials later flew to Tokyo to alert their Japanese counterparts of the breach, according to the Washington Post.
然而，专家表示，近期的黑客攻击潮前所未有。据关山丰称，自7月以来，日本已报告至少81起事件，占过去三年攻击总数的近三分之一。
However, experts say the recent hacking barrage is unprecedented. At least 81 incidents have been reported in the country since July, comprising nearly a third of attacks in the last three years, according to Sejiyama.
这场危机发生之际，高市早苗在今年夏天将网络安全提升为国家优先事项，重点是保护关键基础设施。日本此前主要侧重于事件发生后的调查和应对，但现在正转向更主动的立场，即监控在线通信流量以识别潜在威胁，并试图将其消除。
The crisis comes after Takaichi elevated cybersecurity to a national priority in the summer, with a focus on safeguarding critical infrastructure. The country had been largely focused on post-incident investigation and response, but it’s now shifting to a more proactive stance of monitoring online communications traffic to identify potential threats and trying to neutralize them.
东京庆应义塾大学教授、日本政府网络安全咨询小组成员土屋大洋表示：“我们比其他七国集团国家弱得多。”他指出，日本正在接受美国、澳大利亚和英国安全部门的培训和咨询。
“We are much, much weaker than other G7 countries,” said Motohiro Tsuchiya, a professor at Keio University in Tokyo and member of an advisory panel to the Japanese government on cybersecurity, noting that the country is receiving training and advice from American, Australian and British security services.
据土屋大洋称，日本在网络安全方面落后于同行的关键原因之一，在于宪法和法律对政府监控通信（包括来自海外的通信）的限制。但新的立法已经取消了这些限制，其中一些立法本月早些时候才生效。
A key reason Japan lags its peers in cybersecurity stems from constitutional and legal restrictions on government monitoring of communications, including from overseas, according to Tsuchiya. But those restrictions have been lifted by new legislation, some of which only took effect earlier this month.
日本已承诺为网络安全追加资金，但一个长期存在的问题是难以找到足够的有经验的人力。政府首席发言人木原稔周四表示：“如果我们要适当应对和处理威胁，培养和确保高能力的网络安全人员是一项紧迫任务。”
Japan has committed additional funds toward cybersecurity but a lingering problem has been finding sufficient experienced manpower. “Developing and securing highly capable cybersecurity personnel is an urgent task if we are to respond to and deal with threats appropriately,” chief government spokesman Minoru Kihara said on Thursday.
总部位于大阪的网站开发公司ID-TECHS的花谷义行表示，过去六个月里，AI驱动的网络攻击急剧增加。上周，当PHP软件的补丁在深夜发布时，他结束出差赶回来做好准备。他说，在那之后，他花了几天时间处理客户的请求。
Yoshiyuki Hanaya, of Osaka-based website development company ID-TECHS, said a sharp rise in AI-driven cyberattacks over the last six months. Last week, he raced back from a business trip to be ready when the PHP software patch dropped late at night. After that, he spent days dealing with client requests, he said.
他说：“除了吃饭、上厕所、洗澡和睡觉，我基本上一直坐在电脑前。”
“Other than eating, going to the bathroom, bathing and sleeping, I’ve basically been in front of my PC the entire time,” he said.
迈阿密大学专攻网络安全的教授本杰明·巴特利特表示，日本之所以仍然是黑客眼中的诱人目标，还因为日本拥有大量现金充裕但IT安全不到位的的小公司。他说，在此轮攻击浪潮中，大多数事件都是这类公司被以金钱为目的的黑客盯上。
Japan also remains an attractive target for hackers because it’s home to a large number of small companies that are cash-rich and have inadequate IT security, according to Benjamin Bartlett, a professor at Miami University specializing in cybersecurity. During the current wave of attacks, most incidents have seen those types of companies targeted by financially motivated hackers, he said.
巴特利特表示：“日本公司更多是预示未来趋势的风向标，而不是格外糟糕。”“我认为没有人为此做好准备。”
“Japanese companies are more of a bellwether for what is to come, rather than uniquely bad,” Bartlett said. “I don’t think anyone’s prepared for this.”