Assessing information leakage risks in Japanese enterprises: strategic management and corporate attributes

As cybersecurity threats intensify, understanding the organizational drivers of information leakage has become a critical priority, especially in the context of Japanese enterprises where structural and technological legacies often persist. This study provides empirical insight into how corporate attributes shape data leakage risks, particularly focusing on email-related incidents that pose significant reputational and financial consequences. Objectives: The objective of this study is to examine how specific organizational characteristics—such as the number of affiliated sites, site density, presence of legacy systems, and employee-induced leakage frequency—influence the risk of information leakage in Japanese firms operating in an increasingly digitized environment. Methods/Approach: The study uses a dataset of 399 Japanese enterprises collected from both public databases and private sources. Multiple regression analysis is employed to evaluate the impact of these attributes on the frequency of email leakage incidents, allowing for quantifiable insights into structural vulnerabilities and organizational exposure. Results: The findings show that firms with a higher number of affiliated sites are more susceptible to data leaks, whereas those with denser site distributions experience lower risks. The presence of legacy systems, especially in older firms, significantly increases vulnerability. Furthermore, a higher frequency of employee-induced incidents highlights gaps in internal governance and employee awareness. Conclusions: Information leakage risks are strongly influenced by structural and organizational factors rather than being random occurrences. These results underscore the importance of tailoring cybersecurity strategies to firm-specific attributes. The study offers a novel contribution by empirically linking corporate structure to data security outcomes, bridging strategic management and cybersecurity as an emerging interdisciplinary challenge in the digital era.