デジタル庁: The story behind this trend in Social Media today
06-10-2026
I’ll check what’s circulating about Japan’s Digital Agency on social media today.The posts point to a press conference remark. I’ll pull the reporting around that.The trend around Japan’s Digital Agency today comes from a press conference by Digital Minister Toshiharu Furukawa on 6 October 2026. He addressed a recent string of unauthorized-access incidents that have exposed large amounts of personal data at private companies, and told the public that cyberattacks are not only a problem for firms and organizationsindividual precautions also help limit the damage. He asked people to adopt the attitude that “you should protect your own information yourself,” and specifically urged them to stop reusing passwords, turn on multi-factor authentication, and treat suspicious emails and social-media messages with caution. He noted that leaked data can include not only names and addresses but also passwords, credit-card details, and driver’s-license information, which can then be used for impersonation or fraudulent transfers.The warning sits against a cluster of recent breaches. Reports have covered leaks or possible leaks involving Daiwa Securities, the membership database of the yakiniku chain King (described as exceeding 10 million records), the car-sharing service Times Car, Osaka Metropolitan University (a possible exposure affecting on the order of 130,000 people, including student-ID photos), the retailer Mr. Max (up to roughly 1.73 million customer records), and a GMO-related survey service. Headlines that shortened Furukawa’s remarks to “protect your own information yourself” spread quickly and drew heavy criticism on social media. Many readers took the line as the agency shifting responsibility onto citizens, especially because the Digital Agency itself disclosed in September 2026 that an unauthorized intrusion into the Government Solution Servicethe shared network environment it provides to ministriesmay have exposed personal details (names, email addresses, phone numbers, addresses) of roughly 240,000 to 246,000 government staff and related contractors. My Number and financial-account data were said not to be included, and no misuse had been confirmed at the time; the then-minister called the incident grave and apologized. Critics have linked the two episodes, arguing that an agency already associated with a government-system breach and with the My Number Card system is poorly placed to emphasize personal self-defense. Others have noted that the full remarks were ordinary security advice rather than a denial of institutional duty, and that the abbreviated headline made the message sound more dismissive than the longer statement.