Cyber Attack on JSDF

Some newspaper reported on Monday that Japan Ground Self-defense Force had been cyber-attacked by external someone. The target was high-speed information network with great storage capacity, called Defense Information Infrastructure, that connected GSDF bases and camps. A solid system developed by Ministry of Defense was breached with high-level information technology by organized groups. While exact scale of damage has not been determined, it is likely that internal information of GSDF was leaked.

The news was disseminated from Kyodo News Agency. It reported that some highly ranked officers with JSDF recognized the case as truly serious and required immediate measures to defend the system. “I cannot answer each individual case,” told Deputy Director General in charge of information security, Masakazu Saito. MOD prohibited use of internet inside the whole organization after it realized that cyber attack.

Why was that highly closed system breached so easily? The hackers supposed to have sneaked into the system through malicious access to computers in National Defense Academy and National Defense Medical College. The system of those two educational institutes is connected with whole system inside MOD and JSDF, and also with academic network to which other colleges in Japan participate in. Although internal network of DII is separated from external internet communication, each personal computer has been used for both networks switching between them. Hackers seemed to have taken advantage of the weakness.

So, what is wrong with the case? Firstly, JSDF is likely to have given away its top secrets to potential enemy. It should obviously be an organized crime, which requires certain amount of human resource and money, not a crime for personal fun. Although the damage has not been determined, JSDF has to refresh its information, based on a notion that whole information was stolen.

More seriously, JSDF lost its credibility on information security. The information JSDF possessed was not only about itself, but something related to its allies. It is supposed that what the hackers really wanted was not about JSDF but United States Force, a part of which stationed in Japan. Although Japan signed General Security of Military Information Agreement with Republic of Korea last week, information security of JSDF proved to be as safe as it should be.

What JSDF has to do immediately are to determine what kind of information was leaked, to rebuild security system for top secrets and to enhance credibility of allies with close communication. Even how the government raises security system for national defense, it will be meaningless with vulnerable cyber system. Before changing interpretation of the Constitution of Japan, Shinzo Abe administration needs to restore basic quality of JSDF.