February 28, 2020 Announcement of Recipients of Cybersecurity Encouragement Prizes of Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications

Since 2017, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has been awarding individuals and organizations showing outstanding achievements in the forefront fields of cybersecurity as recipients of Cybersecurity Encouragement Prizes of Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications.
Recently, MIC has selected the award winners for 2019 and Cybersecurity Encouragement Prizes of Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications and decided to announce them.

1. Overview

In recent years, the integration of cyberspace and real space has brought richness to society. At the same time, the risk of malicious actors using cyberspace is increasing. Ensuring cybersecurity is an extremely important issue from the viewpoint of safe and secure people’s lives and the strong development of socio-economic activities.
Therefore, since 2017, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) has been looking for individuals or groups (teams) who have achieved excellent achievements in cybersecurity response sites and are expected to advance further in the future. These individuals or groups (teams) may submit applications by self-recommendation or other recommendations, and MIC will give Cybersecurity Encouragement Prizes of Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications to them, subject to their achievements.

2. Examination results of Cybersecurity Encouragement Prizes of Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications

A selection committee organized by a panel of experts was held, MIC has decided to grant Cybersecurity Encouragement Prizes of Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications to one individual and two groups based on the results of the selection committee’s decision.

Individual

• Mitsuaki Akiyama (Senior Fellow, NTT Secure Platform Laboratories)

Groups

• Osaka Chamber of Commerce (Yu Ozaki, President)
• nao_sec (Rintaro Koike, Representative)