Japan and the European Union are strengthening their cooperation on cybersecurity ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, where the city is expected to face a significant cyberthreat.
Organizers of past games faced an estimated 500 million cyberattacks during the 2016 Rio Games and 200 million at the 2012 London Games.
Cyberattacks are no longer mere "hobbies" for attackers, said Susanna Makela, a senior director of European government affairs at Microsoft, adding it has become more like a "business" as attackers are "smarter, more serious, more organized and more funded."