"Come to My House If You Want to Hack Me": Japan Turns to 'Analog' Password Management Amid Data Breaches

Personal Data Breaches in Japan Affect 260 Million People
Security Experts: "Notebooks Must Also Be Stored Carefully"

Amid growing concerns about cybersecurity following a series of hacking incidents and personal data breaches in Japan, an approach dubbed “analog security” is drawing attention: writing passwords by hand in a paper notebook.

On November 3, Yonhap News TV reported that a post introducing a “password management notebook” purchased at Daiso, a Japanese household goods retailer, has been attracting attention on Japanese social media in recent days.

The photo attached to the post shows the cover, labeled “Password Management Notebook,” and interior pages designed for users to write down IDs and passwords for various online services by hand. The post is said to have received more than 4.5 million views. The author expressed satisfaction, saying, “At first, I wondered who would buy something like this, but in times like these, analog management is best.”

Local social media users also responded with agreement. Some commented, “These days, keeping passwords in a notebook may actually be safer than storing them online,” “This should reduce concerns about passwords being exposed in a hack,” and “Another advantage is that you can leave your account information for your family in case of an unexpected emergency.”

Some analysts say that a series of large-scale personal data breaches in Japan lies behind the renewed interest in paper notebooks in the digital age. According to data released by Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission on October 28, a cumulative total of approximately 260 million people had their personal information exposed, or potentially exposed, through unauthorized access between April 1 and October 16 this year.

That figure is more than twice Japan’s total population. The Personal Information Protection Commission received 2,094 related reports over the same period. Reports surged from 303 in September to 830 in the first 16 days of October. On October 30, the Japanese government expressed serious concern, saying that large-scale personal data breaches were increasing rapidly.

Government agencies have not been exempt from cyberattacks. On September 11, Japan’s Digital Agency announced that the Government Solution Service (GSS), a work system shared by government ministries and agencies, had been accessed illegally from outside, potentially exposing approximately 246,000 pieces of personal information. The potentially exposed information included the names, email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses of government employees and business operators involved in related work. An investigation found that the attacker had exploited a security vulnerability in a virtual private network (VPN) device to gain access to the system. In response to the repeated incidents, Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission is urging companies and institutions to review their security measures for protecting personal information.

But is writing passwords in a paper notebook actually safe? The UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) says that writing passwords on paper is not necessarily dangerous in itself. Because a paper notebook is not connected to the internet, its contents are difficult to obtain directly through remote hacking. However, paper notebooks can still be lost or stolen, or accessed by others without permission. In particular, if passwords for multiple accounts are kept together in one place, the damage could be greater if the notebook is exposed to others.

The NCSC therefore recommends that anyone who writes passwords on paper keep the notebook in a secure place where others cannot see it, and avoid storing it with the devices used to access those passwords. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommends using a password manager to create long, unique passwords for each account and store them securely.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.