Japan to Join the List of Countries with Cyber Weapons

The Japanese Ministry of Defense has announced plans to develop cyber weapons intended exclusively for self-defense purposes. According to local media reports, government contractors will be responsible for creating the malicious software, with the project expected to be completed by the end of the current fiscal year.

The cyber weapon is reported to include viruses and backdoors, but authorities have not disclosed specific details about its capabilities or the scenarios in which it might be deployed. It is believed that the software will only be used in response to attacks on Japanese infrastructure and solely against the attackers.

Previous Attempts and Legal Changes

This is not Japan’s first attempt to develop cyber weapons. In 2012, the government commissioned Fujitsu to create software for detecting and neutralizing the sources of cyberattacks. However, that project did not achieve the desired results.

Earlier this year, the Japanese government approved an amendment to the law granting employees of the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology the right to hack into citizens’ IoT devices as part of a security research initiative. The program aims to test the security of more than 200 million IoT devices, including routers, web cameras, and other gadgets, both in homes and businesses.