Ransomware Entry Cost is Only 66,000 JPY, While Recovery Costs 230 Million JPY: Economic Asymmetry of Attacks Targeting Japanese Companies Reaches 3,500x

Halcyon Japan Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Country Manager: Masaki Tsuyuki), the Japanese subsidiary of US cybersecurity company Halcyon, which specializes in ransomware defense, announced today the full-scale launch of its business in the Japanese market. It will provide domestic companies with ransomware defense solutions that combine a proprietary platform with 24/7/365 monitoring services (ROC).

Latest Findings on Ransomware Attacks Targeting Japan (First Release) Halcyon's threat intelligence team, the "Halcyon Ransomware Research Center (RRC)," has been independently tracking the trends of ransomware attacks targeting Japanese companies. In this release and at the press conference held on the same day, the analysis report "The Reality of Ransomware Attacks Targeting Japan 2026" is being made public for the first time.

The 5 key points to note are as follows:

1. Economic Asymmetry of Attacks: Entry Cost of 66,000 JPY vs. Recovery Cost of 230 Million JPY While attackers can purchase access rights to networks on the dark web starting from about 66,000 JPY, the average recovery cost for victimized companies reaches about 230 million JPY (excluding ransom). The difference between the two is approximately 3,500 times. This structure, where the economic rationality of the attack is overwhelmingly high, makes ransomware viable as a "sustainable business." Victim companies are forced into an average of 21 days of business suspension in addition to recovery efforts, with about half experiencing downtime of one month or more.

2. Acceleration Even After National Police Agency Announcements: Emerging Groups Reaching the Japanese Market One After Another In just three months from January to March 2026, four emerging ransomware groups (Gentlemen, NetRunner, Metaencryptor, Tengu), whose activities in Japan had not been previously confirmed, newly targeted the country. This demonstrates the speed at which they arrive in Japan within months of their global appearance, while 65 groups are active worldwide. Tracking data from leak sites shows a 41.7% year-on-year increase in incidents in the first half of 2025. The 226 cases announced by the National Police Agency are merely the tip of the iceberg.

3. Concentration on the Manufacturing Industry: Japan's Strength Becomes the Biggest Target 28% of ransomware attacks target the manufacturing industry, making it the most victimized sector for two consecutive years. In particular, damage is concentrated in core industries that support Japan's economic identity, such as automobile manufacturing (12 cases), industrial machinery (7 cases), home appliances/electrical/electronic equipment (7 cases), and semiconductor manufacturing (5 cases). The efficiency of just-in-time supply chains entails a structural vulnerability where, once a single supplier is compromised, the impact instantly ripples throughout the entire industry.

4. Extreme Shortening of Attack Speed: No "Time to Respond" Exists In the fastest cases, attacks are completed in just one hour from initial entry to the completion of encryption. The average intrusion period in domestic cases is 6 days, and the business suspension period averages 21 days. Meanwhile, attackers disable over 300 types of endpoint security drivers using a method called BYOVD (Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver) before encryption, simultaneously encrypting Windows, Linux, and ESXi. This is a speed that traditional detection and response models cannot keep up with.

5. Mismatch Between Regulation and Reality: Data Theft Immediately Triggers Notification Obligations Under the Personal Information Protection Law Data theft is included in 74-77% of attacks, and the Personal Information Protection Law triggers reporting obligations at the time of data leakage. The reporting deadline is 3-5 days for preliminary reports, whereas it takes only hours to complete encryption. Restoring operations from backups does not resolve the impact on regulatory, legal, and reputational fronts. Furthermore, generative AI has dismantled the natural defense previously provided by the complexity of the Japanese language; the Japan-specific phishing kit "CoGUI" is sending 172 million Japanese phishing emails in a single month. The number of reported phishing cases reached a record high of 2.45 million, with fraudulent transaction damages reaching 740.8 billion JPY.

Full-Scale Entry into the Japanese Market and Business Strategy Halcyon appointed Masaki Tsuyuki as Country Manager in November 2025 and has been building its business foundation in Japan. The Japanese subsidiary will fully launch the provision of its platform and implementation support to all domestic companies needing ransomware defenses, regardless of industry or size. In addition to implementation via partners, procurement through major cloud providers is also supported. To guide each customer to the optimal implementation route and partner, companies considering adoption are encouraged to consult Halcyon Japan Co., Ltd. first. From the perspective of the active cyber defense policies promoted by the Japanese government and economic security, strengthening ransomware resilience is an urgent management issue, and Halcyon...