Rumors are circulating in the media regarding a large-scale hack against the Japanese military computer network. Even though these rumors have not been officially confirmed, there appears to be evidence of a breach dating back to September of 2016. So far, the Japanese government denies any allegations and affirms that everything is normal.
Was The Japanese Military Network Hacked Or Not?
State-sponsored hacking attempts by foreign nations are far more common than most people assume. Both China and Russia are often mentioned in these types of stories, although the Japanese “incident” does not point the finger of blame at anyone in particular yet. In fact, the government stated that there was no data breach in September of 2016, despite one local newspaper claiming otherwise.
According to Kyodo News, sources without the Japanese military structure confirmed the data breach. It seems highly unlikely that military upper brass would share such sensitive information with a newspaper, but stranger things have happened in the past. The paper mentions how “well-organized attacks” have successfully caused the Japanese military network to be breached.
The intended target of this attack, assuming it took place, was the system of communications between independent army facilities. This system is known as the Defense Information Infrastructure and contains a lot of vital information regarding Japanese military actions. Even though the DII is split into two parts, one half is connected to the Internet, making it vulnerable to hacking attempts.
Bloomberg has looked into this story and confirmed that the Japanese Ministry of Defense denies all of these allegations. They did mention how several suspicious emails and other forms of communication have been detected on the network, although those threats have been neutralized rather quickly.
To add fuel to the fire, Kyodo News goes on to claim that the Japanese Ministry of Defense restricted internet access for all personnel shortly after the breach was reported. That allegation has also been denied in all languages, although there may be some truth to this part. Until an official statement is released, it will be impossible to tell what has gone down. Rest assured, the Japanese military would never make a breach public, even if the evidence is leaked.
It is not the first time that the Japanese internet infrastructure has come under attack from hackers, though. Mitsubishi, a high-tech defense contractor for the Japanese military, was hacked in 2011, in an attempt to extract “defense technologies.” State-sponsored hacking attempts by foreign nations against Japan seem unlikely, but in this day and age, nothing is impossible.
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