8 Oct 2012

Japan pushes to form cyber-defense network with other ASEAN countries

The Japanese government is apparently looking form a defense network against cyber-attacks in light of the 19 public institution websites that were hit last month. The plan involves sharing information about the attack patterns and technology with 10 other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) organization with the hopes of strengthening defenses for everyone. This comes shortly after 19 websites for Japanese government and public institutions were the target for attacks originating from China last month over the territorial islands dispute.
Details are still being worked out, but consultations are said to be held in Tokyo later this week in order to discuss information security policies. The goal of the system would be to enable the quick and seamless communication between officials in each country. This would allow the sharing of information, as well as the possibility to take joint countermeasures if one country is attacked. Among the 10 nations already interested in participating include Thailand and Indonesia.
ASEAN countries are said to often be under-prepared when it comes to cyber-defense as they have not kept up with the increased and advanced uses of computers in governments and offices that come with economic development. Because of this, ASEAN countries are often the victims of cyber-attacks, and observers note that they are often appear as sources of attacks when other countries route their activities through servers to hide their true locations.

http://japandailypress.com/japan-pushes-to-form-cyber-defense-network-with-other-asean-countries-0814818