Tokyo Tightens Cybersecurity After Protest

A surge in cyberattacks in Japan has forced the Japanese government to boost its cybersecurity by adding staff and creating a new agency to oversee cybersecurity throughout the country.

The Associated Press' Aiko Hayashi is reporting that the government believes the surge in cyberattacks is linked to anti-Japanese sentiment in the rest of Asia. "Government officials are reluctant to publicly pin the attacks on Chinese and South Korea hackers because of the difficulty of identifying their source, but a surge in attacks coincided with violent anti-Japanese protests last month in China," Hayashi says.

However, Hayashi says there has been no sign that any of the attacks were backed by the Chinese or Korean governments. The attacks recently hit Japan's National Police Agency, its Self-Defense Forces and the Defense and Foreign ministries, as well as other sites. The attacks mark a shift from typical "kid's play" hacking to organized, politically motivated assaults.

To handle the increase in Internet attacks, Japan has established a National Information Security Center and increased its anti-cyber attack staff from 18 to 26, Hayashi reports.

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