Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara speaks at a news conference on Monday at the Prime Minister's Office. | JIJI

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government held a ministerial meeting on cybersecurity Monday evening to discuss countermeasures in response to data breaches affecting the personal information of millions that have started to cause financial losses.

“The recent series of cyberattacks against Japanese companies and other organizations has resulted in a number of major incidents involving large-scale information leaks and other damage,” Takaichi told reporters after the meeting, which was attended by Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, digital minister Toshiharu Furukawa and the ministers for finance and defense, among others.

“The situation is serious, with growing concerns about civil damages resulting from the misuse of leaked information. We must urgently strengthen our countermeasures,” she said.…