Forwarded From: "B.K. DeLong" <bkdelong@pobox.com>
Japan Beefs Up Cyber-Patrols
TOKYO (AP) At a secret location somewhere in Tokyo, dozens of specialists
in cryptography and electronic media will soon be hard at work patrolling
cyberspace.
Due to open by July, the new headquarters for the National Police Agency's
``cyber-cop'' squad signals growing concern about computer security as
more and more Japanese join the global online revolution.
And while unauthorized computer snooping in Japan is less common than in
the United States, a sharp jump in computer-related crimes in recent years
has rattled authorities.
The increase is no surprise legally, Japan is a hacker's heaven.
Breaking into a computer system isn't even a crime in Japan, which sets it
apart from most other major industrialized nations. Hackers are free to
peep at sensitive data stored in Japanese mainframes so long as they don't
destroy or sell any of it.
``We have fallen behind other countries in this area,'' said Kei Hata, a
member of Parliament who serves as deputy head of the ruling party's
Internet policy committee. ``It's a problem which must be addressed
quickly.''
Worry about the potential for computer-generated chaos has prompted Tokyo
to draft legislation to outlaw unauthorized access. A bill is expected to
be submitted in the current session of Parliament, which ends in June.
The move comes amid pressure from Washington to bolster international
efforts to fight crime in cyberspace and dismay in Japan over abuses such
as the widespread transmission of child pornography and even poison sales
via suicide-related Websites.
The problem is still relatively new to Japan.
In 1997, the number of high-tech crimes known to Japanese police climbed
to 263, up from 178 the previous year and just 32 in 1993.
Still, a recent NPA survey showed that only 4 percent of companies and
colleges polled reported cases of unauthorized access serious enough to
inflict damage on their computer systems.
By comparison, the San Francisco-based Computer Security Institute and the
FBI found that 64 percent of 520 U.S. corporations, government agencies,
financial institutions and universities responding to a 1998 survey had at
least one computer security violation within the previous 12 months. More
than 70 percent suffered financial losses.
Japanese police suspect the true number of computer crimes is much higher
than the official figure, and note that many businesses keep security
problems under wraps to avoid negative publicity.
Companies are particularly reluctant to disclose entanglements with
organized crime syndicates, known as the yakuza.
``The yakuza have moved into this field,'' said Shunichi Kawabe, an
official in the NPA's information technology bureau. ``They are very
interested in making money in this type of business.''
He said Internet-brokered gun trafficking, Web page-based pornography
distribution and computer-generated financial fraud are among the areas
suspected of being targeted.
Thrill-seekers are also stirring up trouble.
One hacker broke into a computer network used by the Hokkaido University
of Education in northern Japan and gained access to login IDs and
passwords used by about 1,000 employees and students. The university
uncovered the security breach last month and shut down the entire network.
Japan plans to step up computer training programs for police, but
authorities acknowledge they have a long way to go before catching up with
their counterparts in the United States.
The good news for the cops is that Japanese hackers also lag behind their
cohorts overseas.
``Domestic cyber-criminals are still low-tech,'' said Kawabe.
-o-
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Received on Thu Mar 11 17:21:20 1999