2020年经济学人 网络安全（2）（在线收听）

In 2017 only 55% of firms of all sizes conducted cyber-security risk assessments, compared with 81% in America and 66% in Europe, according to a government agency tasked with promoting IT. Another study last year revealed that whereas nearly 90% of American and Singaporean firms appoint a chief information-security officer, barely half of Japanese ones do.

在2017年，所有规模的公司中只有55%进行了网络安全风险评估，相比之下，美国和欧洲分别为81%和66%，据一家负责推广信息技术的政府机构称。去年的另一项研究显示，有近90%的美国公司和新加坡公司任命了首席信息安全官，但只有一半的日本公司进行了任命。

An executive of a big shipping company acknowledges the need for better cyberprotection but grumbles that “it is a cost”. That echoes the sentiment of 64% of companies, big and small, surveyed in 2017 that viewed cyber-security as an expense, not an investment. Japanese firms spend 2.4% of their revenues on IT, a third less than in America. A smaller share of the lower spending goes to cyber-defences: whereas 85% of American firms devote at least a tenth of their IT budgets to security, in Japan 62% spend less than a tenth. And, as with Windows 7, a portion of that goes on preserving outdated technology.

一家大型航运公司的高管承认需要更好的网络保护，但却抱怨“这是一份花销”。在2017年接受调查的大小型公司中，有64%的公司同上述观点一致，认为网络安全是一项开支，而不是一项投资。日本公司在信息技术上的支出占总收入的2.4%，比美国少三分之一。在较低的网络安全开支中，有一小部分用于安全防御：85%的美国公司投入至少十分之一的信息技术预算用于网络安全，而62%的日本公司投入不到十分之一。就像是Windows 7系统一样，这其中的一部分日本公司继续保留着过时的技术。

“Executives must stop thinking of network security as an IT problem and start seeing it as a business challenge,” says Kajiura Toshinori of the Japan Cyber-security Innovation Committee, a think-tank, who advises Keidanren, Japan’s main business lobby. That is easier said than done. Nine in ten firms say they have trouble recruiting cyber-security personnel—another sharp contrast with America, where fewer than one in five report such problems. Japan’s shrinking labour force doesn’t help, especially outside big cities. Even in Tokyo many IT analysts lament low pay and a lack of career paths. Plenty leave the profession entirely. Unlike baseball fans, there are no robots to make up the shortfall.

“高管们必须停止将网络安全视为一项信息技术问题，而应开始将其视为业务挑战，”日本智库日本网络安全委员会，日本主要营业厅Keidanren的顾问Kajiura Toshinori表示。说起来容易做起来难。九成的公司表示在招聘网络安全人员时遇到了困难——这与美国的情况形成鲜明对比，只有不到五分之一的美国公司报告存在此类问题。尤其是在大城市外，日本劳动力的萎缩使情况雪上加霜。即使是在东京，许多信息技术分析师也对低工资和缺乏职业发展道路感到遗憾。很多人完全离开了这个行业。但是与球迷的情况不同，不会有机器人来填补不足。