For our final webinar in 2021, the second year in which we had spent much of our lives in cyberspace,we turned our attention to the challenges that face the UK and Japan in this domain, as well as looking at ways in which our two countries might cooperate. To inform this discussion, Japan Society chair Bill Emmott was joined by two experts on cybersecurity: Mihoko Matsubara, Chief Cybersecurity Strategist at NTT Corporation, and Marcus Willett, Senior Adviser for Cyber at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Cyber represents the great opportunity of our times but also one of the greatest threats. Cyber power held by states for offensive and defensive purposes, the use of cyberattacks on private and public institutions, even hospitals, by criminal gangs to seek ransoms, sometimes with the approval of states, cyberespionage, the spread of disinformation intended to influence elections or deter vaccinations, cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure and high profile events such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which experienced a reported 450 million attempted attacks: the list feels endless, and growing. A recent IISS report Cyber Capabilities and National Power [[ Ссылка ]] attempts to create a framework by which to assess our readiness in a global context, looking at everything from strategy to defence, leadership to offensive cyber capability.
What can we as businesses, individuals and organisations do in the face of this? How strong are the UK and Japan in this domain? How should we prepare to deal with the threats, whilst exploiting the many benefits of cyberspace? At a governmental level, how can and should the UK and Japan work together for our common good?
Mihoko Matsubara is Chief Cybersecurity Strategist, NTT Corporation in Tokyo. She is responsible for public advocacy to strengthen or expand networks with global thought leaders in academia, government, and industry by sharing NTT’s and Japan’s cybersecurity efforts via publications and speakership. Mihoko worked at the Japanese Ministry of Defense for nine years before pursuing an MA at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies on Fulbright. She then worked at Pacific Forum CSIS in Honolulu as a fellow before joining Hitachi Systems as Cybersecurity Analyst, and later Intel, Tokyo, as Cybersecurity Policy Director. Her most recent experience includes Vice President and Public Sector Chief Security Officer for Asia-Pacific, Palo Alto Networks. Her 2019 cybersecurity book (Shinchosha Publishing Co Ltd) [[ Ссылка ]] won an Okawa Foundation for Information and Telecommunications 2020 publications award.
Marcus Willett CB OBE has extensive experience of advising governments and companies on cyber, in the UK and internationally. In a 33-year career at the UK’s Government Communications Head Quarters (GCHQ) Marcus rose to become the deputy head of the organisation. He was GCHQ’s first Director Cyber and has led several major UK government cyber initiatives. He has also held posts across the wider UK intelligence and security community. Since leaving government service in 2018, Marcus has been the senior adviser for cyber at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a world-leading authority on global security, political risk and military conflict. Marcus also advises the International Committee of the Red Cross and a range of companies in the UK and elsewhere, mostly on strategic cyber issues. Works published for IISS include a methodology for measuring state cyber power; a net assessment of state cyber capabilities; and an article in Survival magazine on the implications of the SolarWinds hack.
