[ISN] Japan to step up defenses against Islamic, NKorean, computer threats

[InfoSec News]

Forwarded from: William Knowles <wk at c4i.org>

http://www.spacedaily.com/2004/041208055632.1zik2pci.html

Dec 08, 2004 - (AFP) 

TOKYO - Japan will set up a special unit against cyber terrorism and
needs to be on guard against threats from Islamic militants and North
Korean agents, police said Wednesday.

The government will set up a new anti-cyberterrorism team of about 30
computer experts by April, with the number of personnel to be doubled
two years later, said an official with the IT Security Office of the
Cabinet Office.

"Various acts of terrorism and attacks are on the rise, and the
government has decided we can do more to deal with them," the official
said.

The National Police Agency said separately that Japan, a close ally of
the United States, needed to be cautious about threats from Islamic
extremists and North Korea.

Militants purported to belong to Al-Qaeda have threatened to attack
Tokyo to protest Japan's troop deployment to Iraq.

North Korea during the Cold War kidnapped Japanese citizens to train
spies in Japanese language and culture, a saga that continues to keep
relations tense between the two countries.

In an annual review and outlook of public security released Tuesday,
the police cited the case of Lionel Dumont, a Frenchman linked to
Al-Qaeda who stayed in Japan with several foreign associates after the
September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

"Concerns remain that extremists might manipulate the Islamic
communities (in Japan) to carry out terror-related activities," the
report said.

At most 10,000 Japanese are estimated to be Muslims, mostly women who
converted after marrying foreigners, but Japan is home to many more
expatriate Muslims.

On North Korea, the police report said the Stalinist nation has
widened the gap with the rest of the world with its nuclear ambition.

"In order to secure economic aid from Japan, (North Korea) might
increase harmful operations and activities," the report said.


 
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