Japan holds cyber security drill

Frets over risks as country gears up for 2020 Olympics.

TOKYO: Japan held a government-wide cyber security drill Tuesday in a bid to improve coordination among public agencies and major businesses, as Tokyo prepares to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.

The mock cyber attack for the first time brought together 21 government departments and firms in 10 business sectors, including utilities, banking and aviation.

“Cyber attacks have grown increasingly sophisticated, highly developed and internationalised,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the Japanese government’s top spokesman, told participants in Tuesday’s drill.

Internet security comes back into focus after the spectacular failure of the Tokyo-based MtGox Bitcoin exchange following a half-billion-dollar theft of the virtual currency, which it blamed on computer hackers.

Earlier this month, Minister of Technology Policy Ichita Yamamoto cautioned that Tokyo must beef up its preparedness ahead of the 2020 Games.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2014.

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