The US National Security Agency undertook systematic mass surveillance of Japanese politicians, ministries and corporations over a number of years, according to recently published documents. The revelations come from whistleblowing organisation WikiLeaks, which released a list of top secret targets in Japan.

The most high-profile target listed in the "Target Tokyo" documents is the current Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzō Abe, while corporations named include car-manufacturing giant Mitsubishi. The documents also reveal that the US bugged Japan's confidential G8 proposals on climate change, as well as spying on Japan's secret World Trade Organisation plan.

Personal computers in Japan and abroad have been infected with an aggressive online banking Trojan virus called ‘Vawtrak’ responsible for stealing millions of dollars, according to Tokyo police. 

The virus steals private information such as passwords while conducting online banking transactions. The money is then remitted to third-party accounts. Vawtrak was originally spotted in August 2013, that version stole details from several Windows email clients, the more recent have expanded their capabilities to include a wider range of theft. Among these capabilities are stealing banking credentials and credit card information.