Information Warfare: January 1, 2005

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Japan is forming a anti-cyberterrorism unit to set up systems to detect, and deal with, potential cyberwar attacks from North Korean or Islamic terrorists. North Korea has had a cyberwar capability for years, and al Qaeda has openly threatened Japan with cyberwar attacks. Both North Korea and al Qaeda are known to have some cyberwar capability, but the threat can grow rapidly if enough skilled people are put to the task. Japan is very vulnerable to attacks via the Internet, because it is such a heavy user of Internet capabilities at homes, businesses and government offices. Initially, the cyberwar unit will have only 30 personnel, but this is expected to at least double in two years. The government team will hire commercial firms to do much of the actual work of planning and setting up defenses.