Politics

Classified Japanese diplomatic documents leaked in Chinese cyberattacks: media

Tokyo, Feb 5 (EFE).- Classified Japanese diplomatic documents were leaked after Chinese cyberattacks on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2020, a government source has revealed to Kyodo news agency, exposing once again the country’s digital vulnerability.

Japanese authorities detected the large-scale attack and the leak of diplomatic telegrams during an unspecified period of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s mandate, according to the source, who did not specify either the magnitude or the content of the information, Kyodo reported Monday.

Tokyo and Washington debated the adoption of countermeasures in the wake of the cyberattack, which compromised highly confidential documents exchanged daily between the ministry and its international diplomatic missions.

When asked about this at his daily press conference this Monday, Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi refrained from commenting as it was a confidential issue.

“I am aware of the news,” said Hayashi, who did not acknowledge the veracity of the reports, saying that “whether it has leaked out of not has not been confirmed.”

“We are ensuring the security for the information and confidentiality, and the ministry is daily working on the improvement,” added the spokesperson.

Japan’s cybersecurity has been compromised in the past by similar cyberattacks, a field in which the country has shown greater shortcomings than other powers, causing concern in its main ally, the United States, which has urged Tokyo to improve its defenses in this regard.

In its recent review of its national defense plan, Japan assured that it would enhance its cybersecurity measures to prevent attacks that could compromise national security and key infrastructure, but no bill has been presented in this regard and negotiations at the national level are stalled. EFE

mra-yk/tw

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