Google recently announced opening its inaugural Asia-Pacific cyberdefense hub in Tokyo to address growing concerns about cyber threats, particularly from China, and unauthorized access to networks worldwide. 

Over the years, the company has been committed to ensuring user safety through technology with built-in security measures, including AI-enabled spam and abuse filters on Gmail and Google Search. 

Beyond product design, Google recognizes the importance of collective efforts to create a safer internet, particularly by reinforcing digital literacy, especially among the most vulnerable groups.

With Google's cyber defense hub, situated within Google's Roppongi office, they can facilitate research collaboration among government officials, companies, and universities in Japan, aiming to enhance cybersecurity awareness and skills across the region. 

Engineers from various countries, including India, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia, will participate in joint research initiatives to combat cyberattacks. 

This comes after increasing cases of cyberattacks were recorded within the Asia-Pacific region. One of them was recently covered by VCPost, with North Korean hackers breaching South Korean companies for the purpose of espionage.

Despite Google's long-standing presence in Japan since 2001, the company emphasizes that it won't profit from this collaborative effort, with many experts from Japanese research institutes poised to contribute.

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Google's Cybersecurity Commitment In Asia-Pacific

Google has also collaborated with policymakers, NGOs, and community partners across the Asia-Pacific region on various online safety initiatives. 

In India, Google launched the DigiKavach program to combat online financial fraud, supported by Google.org's grant to the CyberPeace Foundation for a nationwide awareness-building program. 

In Singapore, Project PRAISE aimed to raise awareness of scams among seniors, while in Hong Kong, the Be a Smarter Digital Citizen program focused on improving students' digital literacy.

The best part is that aside from business and global relations, the cyberdefense hub will also help individuals be aware of cybersecurity, especially after VCPost reported that there are apps that were found to be spying on private citizens.

"Google looks forward to further collaborations across the Asia-Pacific region to build a safer internet for everyone," said Saikat Mitra, Vice President and Head of Trust and Safety in Google Asia-Pacific.

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