CICC TOKYO DAYORI vol.88

We are currently having the criminal case which is making noise in Japan now.
The case has been taken up by Japanese media every day, and the public is closely watching the progress for police investigation.
The case is a series of robberies aiming at rich people, especially for seniors.
It has occurred widely in Japan, and serious injuries and murders have been occurred due to robbery.

The culprit is a special confidence man group, and the number of cases has been increased rapidly.
The characteristics of this criminal case are the followings.

• Criminal groups are composed of “instructors” and “executors”.
• The “instructors” are Japanese, and said to be outside of Japan (probably in Manila), and instructs the “executors” of robbery through the chat function of the mobile phone.
• The criminal group recruits the “executors” on the dark site of SNS and uses amateurs (not professionals).

The police interrogate the arrested “executors” and rush to find out its full picture of the criminal group, however little progress has been made so far . . .
One of the reasons is that the “executors” does not know who the “instructor” is, and there is no communication history data remained in their mobile phones.
The criminal group uses an IT tool, that is not familiar in Japan for mutual communication, and this IT tool hinders the progress of the investigation.

The IT tool is an application so called “Telegram” developed in Russia.
It is widely used outside of Japan, and I think many of our Tokyo Dayori readers know about it, but its features are advanced encryption and strong security performance that leaves no communication history data on the devise.
It seems that it was originally developed for the purpose of evading censorship by authoritarian.

While it is widely used and provides users with great advantage from its feature, sadly it has been used for crime like Japanese case mentioned above.
As a member of CICC, who promotes the use of IT, I definitely hope that IT will not be abused.

Hirofumi Kikuchi(Mr)

<Topics of Government>

(1)Memorandum of Cooperation on Cybersecurity signed with the Department of Homeland Security of the United States of America
https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2023/0107_001.html

(2)Notice to all Online Marketplace Users to Check for Safe Products
https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2022/1226_001.html

(3)Evaluation on Transparency and Fairness of Specified Digital Platforms Compiled
https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2022/1222_003.html

(4)Japan-Thailand Policy Dialogue on Smart Industrial Safety Held
https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2022/1215_001.html

(5)Parliamentary Vice-Minister Satomi Attends the 4th ASEAN-Japan Smart Cities Network High Level Meeting
https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2022/1209_005.html

(6)Memorandum of Cooperation in the Area of Unified QR Code -Based Payments Signed with Bank Indonesia
https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2022/1209_001.html

(7)Launch of Japan-UK Digital Partnership
https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2022/1207_004.html

<Topics of Industries>

(1)Kurita Water Industries and Hitachi Launch a Co-creation to Implement Solution in Society and Build an Ecosystem for a Sustainable Society with "Zero Environmental Impact"
https://www.hitachi.com/New/cnews/month/2023/01/230126a.html

(2)Two Hitachi Group Companies to Merge to Expand Robotic SI Business in Japan and ASEAN Countries
https://www.hitachi.com/New/cnews/month/2023/01/230130a.html

(3)Fujitsu develops supercomputer system for Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau for numerical weather forecasting
https://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/2023/0117-01.html

(4)Small, Efficient 5G Multisector Antenna Indoor Base Station Achieves World’s First Demonstration using 28GHz
https://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/2023/0130-01.html

(5)Toyota Tsusho, IIJ, NEC, and NTT Com Sign Contract with Uzbektelecom for Telecommunications Infrastructure Development Project
https://www.nec.com/en/press/202301/global_20230127_01.html

(6)NEC develops a gateless access control system using biometric recognition that authenticates large numbers of people to help alleviate congestion at busy entrances
https://www.nec.com/en/press/202211/global_20221130_02.html