About half of Japanese firms responding to a survey say they were targeted by cyberattacks involving ransomware in the past year.

IT security firm CrowdStrike surveyed 2,200 data security officials at companies around the globe. In Japan, 200 officials from major companies in finance, automobile and other sectors responded.

Computer security experts in Japan are warning of an increased risk of cyberattacks, as many business people telecommute and use their computers in less secure environments.

The National center of Incident readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity notes that the coronavirus outbreak has changed the way people use computers.

Japan's National Police Agency says it detected a record number of suspected cyberattacks in the country last year.

The agency's Cyber Force Center observed an average of 4,192 cases of suspicious communications per day. That's an increase of about 50 percent from the previous year's daily average of 2,752.