NICT

NICT and MITRE to Host AI Breach Challenge 2026 on Email Agent Security

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) and MITRE are organizing the AI Breach Challenge 2026: Email Agent Security competition in December 2026. The event will take place at George Mason University in Virginia and will focus on identifying security weaknesses in AI agents designed for workplace email operations. Participants will work in teams of two to four people, combining on-site and remote access over a 24-hour period on December 16 and 17. They will attempt to induce unintended behaviors in the agents and gain access to protected information within an isolated environment. NICT plans to analyze the results to evaluate the effectiveness and limitations of current AI agent security measures for future research and development.

NICT Warns of A2B Attacks Where Reverse-Engineered Android Apps Expose Vulnerable Backend Servers

Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) has issued an alert on A2B attacks, in which publicly available Android apps are reverse-engineered to identify and target their backend servers. The technique, called App-to-Backend Attack, allows threat actors to discover internal server endpoints even when organizations do not publish connection details. Once identified, attackers exploit vulnerabilities, weak authentication, or misconfigured APIs on those servers, leading to unauthorized access and data theft. NICT notes that multiple recent membership-service breaches in Japan stem from this vector rather than flaws in the mobile apps themselves. The institute urges developers and operators to harden backend infrastructure, conduct thorough compromise assessments, and apply proper access controls. Related incidents include unauthorized access to Lawson ID services, Yakiniku King app member data, and Japan Post's postal app.