April 5, 2024 Announcement of the Recipients of the "Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications' Award for Cybersecurity Encouragement"
Since 2017, MIC has recognized individuals and organizations that have made outstanding achievements in the field of cybersecurity responses with the "Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications' Award for Cybersecurity Encouragement."
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 "Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications' Award for Cybersecurity Encouragement."
1. Overview
While the integration of cyberspace and real space has brought prosperity to society in recent years, the risks associated with the use of cyberspace by malicious actors have also increased. Ensuring cybersecurity has become increasingly crucial for safe and secure people’s live as well as for robust social and economic development.
In response, MIC has since 2017 sought nominations of individuals or organizations (teams) who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in the field of cybersecurity responses and who are expected to play an even more active role in the future. The nominations can be submitted through self-recommendations or recommendations by others. MIC selects appropriate individuals or organizations from the nominees, based on their achievements and other factors, and awards them with the "Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications' Award for Cybersecurity Encouragement."
2. Results of examinations for the "Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications' Award for Cybersecurity Encouragement"
Selections were made during a selection committee meeting comprising experts in the field. Based on the selection results, we have decided to grant the Encouragement Award to two individuals and two organizations. The following table summarizes the recipients' accomplishments:
Two individuals
| Name | Summary of accomplishments |
|---|---|
| Atsuo Inomata Professor, CISO, Osaka University | While engaging in education and research in the field of information communication and information security as a university professor, he is actively involved in developing human resources in the field of cybersecurity as a member of the executive committee of cybersecurity personnel development projects (CYDER and SecHack365) that is conducted by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT). He has committed to raising awareness of cybersecurity and increasing related knowledge, particularly regarding security measures taken while working from home or using wireless LAN. All of this indicates that he has made substantial contributions to enhancing cybersecurity in Japan in various areas. |
| Fumie Watanabe DeNA CERT, Security Department, IT Division, DeNA Co., Ltd. Security Coordinator, etc. | Working at Nippon CSIRT Association, which encourages exchanges and cooperation among Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) and assists them in resolving issues, she initiated regional task forces and vigorously conducted workshops in each region. These regional activities provide a valuable platform for companies operating in regions with few cybersecurity-related firms to connect with each other and have facilitated the establishment of cybersecurity communities in each region. All of this indicates that she has made substantial contributions to enhancing cybersecurity in Japan. |
Two organizations
| Organization name | Summary of accomplishments |
|---|---|
| Nagasaki Prefectural Matsuura High School Principal Hiroshi Funakoshi |
Nagasaki Prefectural Matsuura High School has involved its school students in the "Cybersecurity Volunteer Project," organized by the Nagasaki Prefectural Police. As part of this project, students from the high school give lectures on cybersecurity to local elementary students, thereby contributing to cybersecurity education within the community. During these activities, Nagasaki Prefectural Matsuura High School designed its curriculum to ensure its students could acquire sufficient knowledge to deliver lectures. This is a pioneering effort to both disseminate cybersecurity knowledge and develop student potential. In this sense, Nagasaki Prefectural Matsuura High School has made substantial contributions to enhancing cybersecurity in Japan. |
| Organizing Committee for Anti-Malware Research Engineering Workshop (MWS) MWS Datasets team/MWS Cup team Mitsuhiro Hatada from NTT Communications Corporation Takahiro Matsuki from N.F. Laboratories Inc. |
The team has developed a system that enables cyberattack observation data held by the government and companies to be widely used for research purposes as research datasets. They are known as MWS Datasets. It also conducted workshops utilizing the aforementioned datasets and held practical competitions known as the "MWS Cup'' that focus on malware analysis. Through these community activities, the team has developed a large number of anti-malware personnel in industry, academia, and government, thus making substantial contributions to enhancing cybersecurity in Japan. |
Related press release materials
Seeking nominations for the "Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications' Award for Cybersecurity Encouragement" started on November 15, 2023.
https://www.soumu.go.jp/menu_news/s-news/01cyber01_02000001_00179.html 
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The published materials are in Japanese only.
Contact
For further information about this press release, please fill in the inquiry form and submit it to MIC on the website
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Global Strategy Division, Global Strategy Bureau, MIC
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