Japanese Defense Agency May Develop
’Cyberweapons’
Source: The Daily Yomiuri
The Defense Agency has started to study the possibility
of developing experimental computer viruses and computer hacking
technology to build a computer system to cope with so-called
cyberattacks by computer viruses and hackers, sources close to the
agency have revealed.
The project may be included in the five-year defense
buildup program, starting in fiscal 2001, the sources said.
Though the new technology and virus will be developed to
test the new cyberattack defense system, possessing the virus and
hacking technology would mean having "cyberweapons" that are able to
attack other countries’
computer systems, the sources said.
Therefore, the agency has started to research whether
having and using viruses and hacking technology violate the
Constitution, which in practice restricts the possession of strategic
weapons.
As the military use of computer systems increases
worldwide, the agency’s actions are certain to draw international
attention, as there is no worldwide consensus on whether attacks by
computer systems in a borderless cyberspace can be regarded as the use
of force.
It is feared that a cyberattack on the heart of a
computerized defense system could cause more damage than an attack by
conventional weapons because a computer attack may paralyze the
conveying of instructions down the chain of command, and commanders
may make erroneous judgments based on
false information.
Thus, the agency will include the establishment of a
"cyberforce" for the Ground, Maritime and Air Self-Defense forces in
the next defense buildup program to develop a defense system against
cyberattacks.
The GSDF and the agency’s Technical Research and
Development Institute, which have started preliminary studies, have
concluded that computer viruses and hacking technology will be
necessary to carry out virus prevention experiments and to detect and
remove abnormalities in the course of developing a cyberattack defense
system.
Thus the agency will start studies on the development of
cyberweapons, at least for test purposes, the sources said.
Cyberweapons have the capability of attacking computer
systems at home and abroad through telecommunications networks.
Constitutional restrictions dictating a purely defensive posture have
been interpreted as forbidding Japan from possessing strategic
weapons, such as long-range missiles and
aircraft carriers. The introduction of midair refueling aircraft was
shelved because it was feared that neighboring countries would view
the aircraft as a threat. To this end, debate has taken place within
the agency as to whether possession of cyberweapons violates the
Constitution.
by Yomiuri Shimbun
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/1024po01.htm