Japan developing cyber weapon

JAPAN has been developing a virus that could track down the source of a cyber attack and neutralise its program, the daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Sunday 01/01/12. The weapon is the culmination of a ¥179 million ($2.3 million), three-year project entrusted by the government to technology maker Fujitsu to develop a virus and equipment to monitor and analyse attacks, according to the report. The US and China reportedly also have put so-called cyber weapons into practical use.

 Japan will have to make legal amendments to use a cyber weapon, as it could violate the country's law against the manufacture of a computer virus, the newspaper said. Japan's parliament came under cyber attack in October, apparently from the same emails linked to a China-based server that already hit several lawmakers' computers. It also was reported that Japanese computers at embassies and consulates in nine countries were infected with viruses in the summer.

Currently, the virus is being tested in a "closed environment" to examine its applicable patterns.