Panel: Authorities Should Be Able to Hack, Neutralize Cyberattack Sources to Provide Active Cyber Defense

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, August 7, 2024

An expert panel proposed on Tuesday that the government should be able to break into and neutralize the sources of cyberattacks without a warrant.

The government held the third panel meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office to discuss the introduction of active cyber defense for eliminating in advance the possibility of serious cyberattacks. The panel proposed that the government analyze communications information in peacetime and take measures to hack into an attacker’s server and neutralize it based on the Police Duties Execution Law.

“Large-scale cyberattacks on private companies have occurred, and improving Japan’s cyber defense has become a matter of great urgency more than ever,” Taro Kono, the minister in charge of digital transformation, said at the start of the meeting.

At the meeting, the panel at summarized the opinions expressed so far in the following areas: reinforcement of public-private partnerships; use of communications information; and intrusion into and neutralization of attack sources.

To strengthen public-private partnerships, the panel suggested that cyberattacks on critical infrastructure providers must be reported the government, and a public-private sector council be established. It also urged the use of a security clearance system that qualifies those who can access sensitive information on the economy and security.

The panel stressed that “communications information be analyzed during peacetime in order to understand the actual conditions of attacks,” but the intrinsic content of the communications “does not necessarily need to be analyzed.” The analysis therefore should be limited, in principle, to items such as IP addresses and malware, rather than the text of emails, for example.

The panel also urged the establishment of an independent body to monitor the process.

Regarding measures to penetrate and neutralize the source of an attack, the panel stated that it “cannot accommodate” the method of requesting and obtaining a court warrant after an incident has occurred because the purpose is to prevent damage before it occurs. It proposed an idea to “refer to the Police Duties Execution Law that allows authorities to immediately take measures according to the situation.”

The government is working on revising the law to provide a legal basis to take such steps, and the police and Self-Defense Forces are under consideration for being responsible for undertaking the practical work.