‘Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’, Japan’s Arms Supplier Under Cyber Attack?

[Magda Hassan]

And here I was thinking that Japan couldn't be making these sorts of weapons after they lost the war.....Guess I was wrong.....Mitsubishi, once and arms dealers always an arms dealer.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries', Japan's Arms Supplier Under Cyber Attack?

Posted by Swapnil Pande on September 22, 2011

As quoted by Reuters, "Japan told its biggest weapons supplier, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, to investigate a cyber attack on its computers on Tuesday, warning it may have breached contracts to supply billions of dollars of equipment by keeping quiet about the online assault."Mitsubishi Heavy has been dealing with billions of dollars worth of Japanese arms for quite a long time. It was under a cyber attack in August this year. But Japanese military officials where thought of dozing off till the news was brought into everybody's sight by Reuters and local press reports.The servers which were used to hack into the defense system where tracked to be operated from China, USA, India and Hong Kong. However Chinese government criticized Japan's claims it also denied them by quoting, "The Chinese government has consistently opposed hacking attack activities. Relevant laws strictly prohibit this" the spokesperson Hong Lei told reporters, "China is one of the main victims of hacking … Criticizing China as being the source of hacking attacks not only is baseless, it is also not beneficial for promoting international cooperation for internet security."The Japanese defense officials are constantly getting suspicious emails and the origin of those emails is yet to be tracked down. Mitsubishi heavy has been under cyber attack many times and this if true would be the third biggest attack on their cyber network after loss of nuclear reactor test data in 2006 and the leak of information on its fighter jets in 2003, as reported by local media.Is it safe for the government to use servers that can be accessed from a long distance and hacked by hackers, to store the most important data of defense ministry? This is the easy way that people can be a victim of terror attacks in the near future to come. And even being sleepy heads for about 1 month after the data was being stolen shows how careless private companies could be for defense purposes.Source: Reuters

[Ed Jewett]

Nuclear and Military Data Stolen in Mitsubishi Network Attack

October 26th, 2011Via: Asahi:
Sensitive information concerning vital defense equipment, such as fighter jets, as well as nuclear power plant design and safety plans, apparently was stolen from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. computers during a cyber-attack in August, sources said.
An internal investigation found signs that the information had been transmitted outside the company's computer network, with the strong possibility that an outsider was involved.
This is the first time that sources have acknowledged that defense and nuclear plant information may have leaked from Mitsubishi Heavy's computers due to a computer virus, despite the company saying it had taken appropriate safeguard measures.
The computers were found to have been hacked in August, and 83 computers were found to have been infected with a virus. Those computers were spread out over 11 locations, including the Kobe and Nagasaki shipyards that construct submarines and destroyers as well as the Nagoya facility that is in charge of manufacturing a guided missile system.
At that time, Mitsubishi Heavy officials said no confirmation had been made that information related to products or clients had leaked.
According to sources, a further investigation into dozens of computers at other locations found evidence that information about defense equipment and nuclear power plants had been transmitted from those computers to outside the company.
The defense information is related to the fighter jets and helicopters that Mitsubushi Heavy manufactures for the Defense Ministry. Officials said they were uncertain if any confidential defense information was included in the leaked data.
Sources said the nuclear plant information included data on nuclear plant design and nuclear equipment, as well as anti-quake measures.
Possibly Related: Duqu: Son of Stuxnet Hits European Computer Networks

[Magda Hassan]

This is totally agains Japanese law of course. http://www.article-9.org/en/index.html But there have been serious moves to get Japan on side for many years now bith with in and outside Japan. Article 9 forbids Japan to make and sell weapons.

By CHESTER DAWSON

TOKYOJapan's Cabinet decided Tuesday to effectively lift a four-decade self-imposed ban on weapons shipments that has nominally prohibited Japanese arms makers from joint development and export of military technology.
The move to abandon the Cold War-era restrictions comes as Japan seeks to defer costs for developing and manufacturing advanced technology in areas such as ballistic missile defense and jet fighters. While there have been many exceptions in the past, the decision marks the first major revision since the ban was introduced in 1967 and tightened in 1976.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba speaks to reporters at his office in Tokyo on Tuesday as the Japanese government decided to approve the easing of decades-old ban on arms exports, which will pave a way for Japanese firms to participate in multinational weapons development projects.



"Whereas previously exceptions have been granted on a case-by-case basis, we will now institutionalize exceptions in a comprehensive manner," chief government spokesman Osamu Fujimura told reporters, adding that Japan would continue to uphold the principle of not exporting weapons where it might prolong international conflicts or violate embargoes.
The policy shift came during a national security council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who has taken a more hawkish stance on defense issues than his two most recent predecessors, who also considered relaxing the ban.
Japanese industrial interests and hawkish members of parliament have long pushed for overturning the ban, but the issue has been sensitive due to Japan's post-World War II commitment to pacifism. The revision was hotly debated last year and widely expected to accompany a new midterm defense plan announced a year ago. But the proposal was shelved after strong opposition from a minority partner in Japan's coalition government, headed by then prime minister Naoto Kan.
The decision Tuesday follows Mr. Kan's replacement by Mr. Noda in September and Japan's selection last week of Lockheed Martin Corp.'s pricey F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter to replace its Air Self Defense Force's aging fleet of 1960s-era F-4 jets. While Japan says it plans to spend some ¥1.6 trillion ($20.8 billion) on the program over the next 20 years, it hopes to offset some of the costs of procuring and partially producing the aircraft domestically by exporting components to other F-35 buyers.
It is still unclear which parts of the advanced stealth fighter will be made in Japan as discussions between Lockheed Martin and the Defense Ministry aren't expected to take place until next year. But government and industry officials in Tokyo have signaled that they expect to win some contracts in a globally scaled program for up to 3,000 F-35 jets.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., IHI Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. will participate in production of the planes.
Japan's commitment to abstain from arms exports, enshrined in its so-called "three principles," was designed to prevent weapons shipments to communist bloc countries amid the height of the Cold War, along with nations under U.N. arms embargoes and war zones. By showcasing the country's avowedly pacifist orientation, they also eased concerns about remilitarization even as Japan's Self Defense Forces seemed at odds with a constitutional renunciation of the use of force.
A strict interpretation of the ban would prevent the U.S. and other allies from exporting systems that included Japanese-developed components. But over the years, Japanese officials have gradually chipped away at the policy, creating exceptions when the rules seemed to get in the way of key projects, like joint development programs with the U.S.
Most recently, the U.S. Defense Department last year pressured Japan to create an exception to its rules to allow the U.S. to sell to Europe missile interceptors developed with Japan.
Even as Japan has avidly developed and deployed advanced military technology, it faces mounting pressure from the deterioration of its fiscal balance sheet. The country's defense budgetat ¥4.6 trillion this yearhas declined for nearly a decade amid a debt-to-gross domestic product ratio that has soared to 200%. The rising costs associated with producing military hardware that can technically only be used in Japan has been a major factor prompting the export-ban rethink.
--George Nishiyama and Takashi Nakamichi contributed to this article
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424...80408.html