Japan to stage mock cyberattacks

Japan will conduct nationwide exercises next year to prepare effectively for cyberattacks on computer networks.

Mock cyberterrorists will simulate attacks on computer networks of businesses and government organizations to discover vulnerable areas, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Wednesday.

Participants in the exercises will include financial institutions, communications companies and Internet service providers, as well as the central government and local governments.

For the exercises, private- and public-sector participants will set up dummy Net servers with the same content as their real ones.

Following the simulated attacks, experts will check computer security by gauging the time and work necessary for the participants to normalize their networks.

Cyberterrorist attacks could damage businesses and government bodies by altering Web page content, erasing data and freezing operations.

An increasing number of companies and government offices have experienced cyberattacks. In one such case, kakaku.com, Japan's largest Web site specializing in product comparison information for consumer goods, had to be shut down temporarily after its code had been tampered with.

Copyright 2005 by United Press International