Japan beefs up cyber defence

2005-05-12 10:51

Aiko Hayashi

Tokyo - In the face of a recent upsurge in cyber attacks believed linked to anti-Japanese sentiment in Asia, Japan's government has bolstered its defence of the country's computer systems, boosting staff and creating a new agency to coordinate efforts.

The National Information Security Centre was established on April 25 and anti-cyber attack staff was increased from 18 to 26 to handle an explosion in internet assaults at several government agencies and other websites.

"This reform is in part the government's response to the recent surge in cyber attacks," Yoshitaka Nishiura, a centre official, said Wednesday. "But more than that, we decided we needed a department that oversees information security for the government as a whole."

The new centre is an expansion of the Information Technology Security Office.

Cyber attacks have hit Japan's national police agency, the self-defence forces and the defence and foreign ministries, in addition to other sites, such as businesses and a Tokyo war shrine criticised in Asia for honouring convicted war criminals, officials say.

- AP