Topic: Militarization of the Internet
Country: Japan
Delegate Name: Charlie Drew
School: Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Japan position papers GLIMUN 2013 committees
Over the course of the past 7 years, various ministries and agencies of the Japanese government have been targets of cyber attacks and “cyberterrorism.” Examples include an attack on the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, several attacks on companies of defense industry such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and an attack on the computer network of the House of Representatives in which IDs and passwords of certain representatives may have been stolen. Over the years these attacks have become more and more specific attempts to compromise top-secret information rather than mere pranks, and evidence of attacks on control systems has grown since 2011.
Because an attack on control systems would directly affect the lives of the people of Japan, and not just figureheads of government organizations, defending against these attacks has become the top priority of cyberspace defense not only for Japan, but for many other countries as well including the United States, one of Japan's closest allies. In 2011, officials of the US and Japan met to discuss a cooperation between them and other allies in dealing with cyberterrorism. Japan also met with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to discuss cyberwarfare countermeasures with a specific focus on China.
Japan aims to implement a system of “cyber counter-attacks” to identify adversaries and strike back at them, as simply defending against cyber attacks is only a temporary solution. The Ministry of Defense is experimenting with the development of computer viruses and hacking technology to build a system to detect attacks, collect data on the attackers, and carry out counter-attacks. The goal is for the system to encompass both the public and private sectors and all branches of government.
