Introduction

Greetings, this is Morino from KINTO Technologies. On June 29th (Thursday) to the 30th (Friday) in 2023, I attended with a colleague the Cyber Security Symposium Dogo 2023 held in Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture. The purpose of the event is to recognize the importance of countermeasures against cyberattacks as digitalization accelerates with the development of society that coexists with the coronavirus, and to fight cyberattacks with the power of local security. The purpose of the seminar was to deepen discussions on policy trends, technological trends, and examples of cyber attacks. We were able to get a lot of inspiration and knowledge from the lectures and other participants.

When I arrived at Matsuyama Airport, we were greeted by Mican, a mascot promoting the image of Ehime Prefecture. There was also a mikan (mandarin orange) juice tower and a mikan juice faucet.

There were many interesting talks and presentations at the symposium, but I would like to introduce some of the ones that left an impression on me. (See a full list of talks and presentations here.)

Japan's Cybersecurity Policy

First of all, Mr. Tomoo Yamauchi (Director-General, Cybersecurity Office, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) gave a keynote speech on "Japan's Cybersecurity Policy." Under the theme of "leaving no one behind," Mr. Yamauchi explained the country's efforts to secure a free, fair and safe cyberspace. This included changes in targets during Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and improvements in cloud usage within government agencies, etc. I felt that the theme of “leaving no one behind” was wonderful.

Secunity (Security + Community) and Generated AI

As for the night session, I listened to a lecture on "Secunity (Security + Community) and Generated AI" by Mr. Tsuneyoshi Hamamoto (IT Integration Department, Energia Communications, Inc.) and Mr. Matcha Daifuku (Risk Consulting Department, luck Technology, Inc.). Mr. Hamamoto explained the concept of secunity, a term coined by combining security with community. Secunity is where people concerned with security interact, share knowledge and experiences, as well as collaborate and learn from each other online and offline. I understood it to be a community that contributes to improving security. Next, he shared his knowledge on Generative AI. The presentation materials are available here (in Japanese). From a security perspective, while we had expectations for its use in detecting suspicious activity from logs, we were also concerned about its use in generating sophisticated phishing emails.

Student Research Award Winning Research Presentation

Finally, on the second day, outstanding students presented their research findings at the Student Research Award Presentation. I voted for the presentation titled "Proposal of KP-less Method for Individual Cyber Exercises Based on Tabletop Role-Playing Games (TRPG)" as it was the one I found most compelling in the symposium, whereas participants voted for the best presentation. This presentation was made by Ms. Erika Fujimoto (Graduate School of Regional Design and Development, University of Nagasaki), who proposed an exercise method for individuals based on TRPG (Tabletop Role-Playing Games) in “KP-less” style as a cyber exercise scenario. “KP-less” means that there is no one in the TRPG to take on the role of the Game Master, the organizer. I was drawn to it due to my ongoing interest in information security education as a security officer. When I was in elementary school and junior high school, game books became very popular. So I understood that it was an exercise incorporating that method.

Summary

These were some of the talks and presentations at the Cybersecurity Symposium Dogo 2023. There were many other useful lectures and presentations. The symposium was a valuable opportunity not only to learn about the latest insights on cybersecurity, but also to interact with people who are interested in the same field. I want to thank the organizers, sponsors, and attendees.