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Japan goes on the offensive against cyberattacks
A new law overturns the old reactive cybersecurity response as Tokyo awakens to rising threats from state-backed actors and criminals
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Japan’s new strategy against cyber attacks empowers the authorities to move from reactive responses to pre-emptive threat detection and disruption of hostile activities, says the writer.
PHOTO: REUTERS
James D.J. Brown
In November 2018, Mr Yoshitaka Sakurada, then Japan’s minister for cybersecurity, blithely told Parliament: “I have never used a computer in my life.” The astonishment only deepened when he demonstrated that he was not even familiar with the concept of a USB drive.
At the time, the Japanese government’s lack of expertise in information technology was mainly viewed with amusement. Some social media users joked that at least the minister could not be hacked.
