WASHINGTON -- Japan is terribly vulnerable to electronic attacks and its defenses against "cyberterrorists" are virtually nonexistent, an adviser to the Japanese government's critical infrastructure group said Tuesday.
The cause: Technological cluelessness and obsolete thinking on the part of top officials.
In sharply worded remarks, Raisuke Miyawaki said that "there is a lack of technology knowledge and a leadership void.... Japan's most senior leaders simply do not have the technological understanding."
Miyawaki, the former head of the national police's organized crime unit, told a panel hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies that Japan needed to create an "emergency cybercorps" to respond to computer attacks. The United States has created the Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office.
His criticism found a welcome audience at CSIS, which has argued for spending more US tax dollars on information warfare studies and offensive and defensive capabilities.
"There are only six PhD candidates in this country each year who specialize in computer security," complained Arnaud de Borchgrave, the director of the CSIS global organized crime project.
He suggested that the Aum Shinrikyo religious group, which carried out the the deadly nerve gas attack in a Tokyo subway four years ago, might be turning to the Internet.
Is there "any indication they've been involved in developing cyberterrorism capabilities?" de Borchgrave asked.
Replied Miyawaki: "There are no documented cases of Aum Shinrikyo involvement in cyberterrorism [but] their membership has been increasing and their sources of revenue have been increasing." So, he said, is their involvement in the computer manufacturing business, with cultists apparently providing near-zero cost labor.
Another CSIS staffer complained that the US federal government wasn't spending nearly enough on info war readiness.
Current spending is "roughly equivalent to half the price of a new Seawolf submarine" and should be sharply increased "given today's threat environment," said Frank Cilluffo of the CSIS infowar task force.
In response to a question, Miyawaki acknowledged there may be "a cultural difference" leading to less preparation in Japan.
He said that "in the US, individual responsibility is considered highly important [and may be] perhaps lacking in Japan." He also said that there is no recognized tech leader like Bill Gates or Andy Grove.
