Japan Govt Unlikely to Submit Cyberdefense Bill This Year

Tokyo, Nov. 5 (Jiji Press)--The government is unlikely to submit legislation for active cyberdefense to the Diet, Japan's parliament, within this year, government sources said Tuesday.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba apparently has no choice but to focus on discussions with opposition parties on economic policies for now, after the ruling camp led by his Liberal Democratic Party lost its majority in the House of Representatives in last month's election for the lower chamber.

The government had aimed to submit the legislation to an expected special Diet session seen focusing on a possible supplementary budget that is likely to be held later this year.

The legislation would allow the country to introduce an active cyberdefense system enabling pre-emptive measures, such as infiltrating the opponent's server to neutralize it, once signs of cyberattacks on Japan are detected through monitoring of telecommunications networks.

Specifically, the government is considering protecting electricity and gas providers and other infrastructure operators with the active cyberdefense system.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]