In its fiscal 2013 budget request, the Ministry of Defense appears to have requested a budget for the establishment of a "Cyberspace Defense Force."
According to reports, “The Ministry of Defense and the Self-Defense Forces have made it clear that they recognize cyberspace as a ‘domain’ alongside land, sea, air, and space. Based on this, they have announced their intention to establish a ‘Cyberspace Defense Force’ consisting of 100 members from the ground, navy, and air forces in fiscal year 2013.” [1] [2] It seems that Japan is finally catching up with the recognition of the rest of the world. This is very gratifying.
In Japan, the perception of the Internet has long been limited to a "tool" as part of an "information and communications strategy." However, overseas, it has long been recognized as a new domain called "cyberspace," and measures have been taken accordingly. The difference between perceiving it as a tool or a domain is clear in the story of "The Eighth Continent."Special lecture at the University of TokyoI have also covered this in [3], so please take a look at those slides.
First of all, I'm happy. I wonder if they'll participate in MNE8 [4]...
[1] Keyman's Net "183rd Lap: Will the Ministry of Defense Activate the Cyberspace Defense Force?!"
[2] Ministry of Defense "Japan's Defense and Budget/Outline of FY2013 Budget Request"
[4] Multi National Experiment Phase 8. Phase 8 of the initiative by NATO countries, South Korea and others is scheduled to begin in December 2012. Phase 12 was carried out from 2011 to 2012, and within this, 7 countries are working together to ensure the security of cyberspace as a "domain" on a par with land, sea, air and space. The secretariat for cyberspace countermeasures is the UK.