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Japan Internet users easy on security, experts say

TOKYO: Japan's excessive haste to embrace the Internet was a factor in the ease with which hackers assaulted government sites last month, and its vulnerability was echoed by the attacks on major U.S. sites this week.

Japan was slow to seize on the Internet as a tool, but it in recent months it has become a craze among government, business and individuals as they race to make up for lost time.

Bypassing the need to take precautions left government sites wide open to hackers, experts said.

Late last month, the government suffered a series of embarrassing attacks on its Web sites, with hackers posting messages attacking Japan's World War Two record, stealing personnel files and adding links to pornographic sites.

"That was a good lesson," said Yutaka Iimori, director of Cyber Angels Japan, a privately organised crime prevention group.

"Ironically, the hacking incident helped to raise awareness among Japanese of the need for every individual to think about protection on the Internet," Iimori said.

If Japan had been embarrassed, and possibly complacent because of its low overall crime rate, it found itself in good company this week when hacker raids on U.S. Web sites proved that even nations with the most advanced Internet technology are not immune when a determined raider takes to cyberspace.

The attacks began on Monday against Yahoo Inc, the largest independent Web site, then spread Tuesday to leading retailers.

In Japan, the sabotage highlights the lack of awareness among Japanese users, whether they be government or individuals, to the security risks on the Internet, experts said.

Japan does not lag behind the United States in terms of Internet technology, said Syun Tutiya, professor of cognitive and information sciences at Chiba University near Tokyo.

But the authorities have turned a blind eye to the risks in their rush to join other developed nations, he said.

"No wonder they've been hacked," Tutiya said.

Iimori's crime prevention group sees a rising number of complaints from victims of fraud in Internet auctions an increasingly popular medium in Japan.

"Internet novices think it can't happen to them, and they don't realise the dangers involved in dealing with anonymous partners," Iimori said.

The hacking into Japanese government ministry sites also underscored the absence of a sense of urgency that characterises much of the bureaucracy, experts said. Just days earlier, the government had decided to step up Internet security to match that of the United States by 2003.

Since the hacking raids, Japanese ministries have set up task forces of experts to find ways to prevent future attacks.

The trade and telecoms ministries said their task forces would work to detect intruders in their computer systems.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police has launched a new task force to combat Internet crimes, and issued orders to local Internet providers to take additional protective measures.

On Sunday, a law prohibiting various forms of improper access to computer networks will go into effect, and authorities hope it will help to halt a recent rise in the number of Internet crimes.

Chiba University's Tutiya was worried the sabotage would discourage the government from disclosing information, noting that some government sites had yet to reopen after the raids.

The Science and Technology Agency, one of the first victims, has not reopened its Web page because officials say they are still investigating and have yet to install effective security barriers.

"If the authorities start to use security as an excuse to hide valuable information, that's defeating the very purpose of the Internet," Tutiya said.-Reuters