Over the past few years, many countries have made considerable efforts to bolster cybersecurity preparedness. These efforts are understandable when put into a geopolitical context: global relationships in the past five years have been among the most tumultuous in decades, cybersecurity threats are more sophisticated than ever, and the world is increasingly reliant on digital technologies.
However, many of these cybersecurity preparedness efforts are remarkably alike, with most of them including risk management frameworks, incident response and recovery support, and legal guidelines. It’s exceedingly rare for these efforts to stray from the norm - that is, until recently.
In early 2025, Japan passed two articles of legislation that constitute the Active Cyber Defense Bill. Much of the Bill is pretty standard, but its introduction of active measures - which empower Japan’s military and law enforcement agencies to take preemptive action against cyber threats - is more interesting. Let’s look at why.
What Prompted the Bill?
But first, let’s explore the context. Even the situation that prompted Japan’s Active Cyber Defense Bill is somewhat unique. It comes in two parts.
Blair Shock
In April 2022, the then-US Director of National Intelligence, Dennis C. Blair, publicly criticized Japan’s digital defenses. His remarks deeply impacted Japanese lawmakers and sparked what has come to be known as “Blair Shock,”
As such, unlike other countries, Japan’s cybersecurity legislation is about more than just remedying a technological shortfall; it is about restoring national confidence and asserting Japan’s commitment to protecting its critical infrastructure and industrial base. The Active Defense Bill is a direct outcome of this wake-up call and, consequently, takes an innovative, proactive, and, some may argue, extreme approach to improving cybersecurity preparedness.
Geopolitical Challenges
Geopolitical pressures also significantly influenced the development of Japan’s Active Cyber Defense Bill. China - one of the world’s most prolific conductors of cyber espionage -is right on Japan’s doorstep, and the two countries have long had a difficult relationship.
Throughout the past decade or so, cyber-espionage activities attributed to China have escalated significantly. For example, Japan has consistently accused MirrorFace, a suspected Chinese-backed espionage group, of siphoning off national security secrets and intellectual property.
These threats, combined with other cybercriminal activities, such as ransomware and supply chain attacks, have put Japan’s critical infrastructure and defense sectors at risk. The Active Cyber Defense Bill is fundamentally an offensive measure; by taking a more aggressive stance, Japan aims to deter potential adversaries and reduce the window of opportunity for attackers.
The Active Cyber Defense Bill: A Two-Pronged Approach
Now that we understand what prompted the Bill, we can examine its makeup in more detail. We’ll start with the more boring bit. The first prong of the Bill involves bolstering passive defense mechanisms. It establishes a cybersecurity council and oversight committee to enhance information gathering and threat analysis and requires critical infrastructure providers to promptly report cybersecurity incidents – all pretty standard stuff.
What’s more, the prime minister has been granted new powers to collect information from telecommunications providers, albeit with strict safeguards to ensure that sensitive data is filtered appropriately. Again, this is not unprecedented – the US, UK, and Australia all have similar measures.
However, the second prong - the “active” part of the bill - is where things get interesting. As noted, it empowers Japan’s military and law enforcement agencies to take pre-emptive action against cyber threats. This means that law enforcement will employ “cyber harm prevention officers” whose responsibilities include proactively disrupting enemy servers during an ongoing cyberattack. Most notably of all, in critical incidents necessitating rapid response, these officers may act without explicit oversight. These measures are unique to Japan and somewhat controversial; one might even describe them as “vigilante hacking.”
Potential Concerns
While the Active Cyber Defense Bill will undoubtedly improve Japan’s cyber preparedness, we can’t ignore the potential for government overreach. Empowering military and law enforcement agencies with pre-emptive cyber capabilities inevitably raises concerns about privacy and civil liberties. Moreover, if not properly checked, these powers could be misused or lead to unintended consequences for international diplomacy.
In a world where “cyber war” is a near-constant threat, granting law enforcement the power to launch offensive cybersecurity actions – potentially without explicit permission – is a concerning prospect. Japan will need to implement strict oversight to prevent disaster.
Looking Ahead
Whatever your opinion of the Bill, this is undeniably a massive moment for nation-state cybersecurity. Proactive approaches to cybersecurity have long been a big part of the private sector, so it’s interesting to see this concept translate into the public sphere. As cyber threats grow ever more sophisticated, offensive security is going to become more important. But is Japan’s Active Defense Bill going about it the wrong way? Could it result in disaster? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this guest author article are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect those of Tripwire.
