Japan Mulling Introduction of ‘Active Cyber Defense’ Measures, Reports Say

TOKYO (Sputnik) - The government of Japan and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will begin discussions in 2023 on amendments to the country's legislation that will allow local experts to carry out "active cyber defense," Japanese newspaper reports citing sources.

The Japanese government wants to create a system that will allow authorities to get involved in the protection of private sector infrastructure by tracking and hacking the systems of intruders even at the stage of suspicious activity.

This initiative will be reflected in the National Security Strategy, which will be revised together with two other security-related documents next week.

Japan's cybersecurity actions are currently limited by the provisions of Article 9 of the Constitution and Article 21 of the Communications Secrecy Act. That is, until Japan is under attack by the enemy, monitoring and responding to attacks on enemy computer systems is difficult.

The amendments, would enable Japanese specialists to take preventive measures even at the stage of "signs of an attack" and to launch counterattacks if necessary.

By the end of 2022, the Japanese government must submit three updated defense documents: a national security strategy, national defense program regulations and a medium-term defense program. According to Japanese media reports, the updated national security strategy could be approved by the Cabinet as early as December 16.