Japan, Asean to create cyberdefense network

Japan, along with the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), are planning to develop a cyberdefense network.

According to The Daily Yomiuri on Monday, unnamed sources said the move comes after a series of cyberattacks against Web sites of government offices and corporation in many of these countries. All 10 countries have agreed to establish the network because many of the recent attacks are believed to have originated from China.

Under the system, the Japanese government plans to share information on cyberattack patterns and technologies to defend against these attacks. It also plans to carry out exercises to verify the effectiveness of the system within the current fiscal year.

In particular, the government plans to construct a system to facilitate communication between officials in charge of online security in each country so they can share information about attacks. It will also be possible for the countries to take joint counter-measures when one of them is attacked, the report noted.

More details of the network will be discussed at the international working-level consultation on information security in Tokyo on Oct. 10 and Oct. 11 later this week, the sources added.

Besides the cyberdefense network, Japan has also initiated measures to counter these attacks. Its defense ministry announced plans to create a defense force to fight cyberattacks, gather information on computer viruses for analysis and study methods of counterattack.

The increased focus on online defense is because Japan is no stranger to cyberattacks. In early September, the country confirmed at least 19 Web sites were hit by cyberattacks, reportedly from China, over both countries' dispute involving islands in the East China Sea. Hacktivist group Anonymous also launched cyberattacks against Japanese government sites to protest against the introduction of stricter punishments for Web piracy.