The Pentagon said on Tuesday it was confident about sharing intelligence with Japan, despite a U.S. news report saying Chinese military hackers gained access to Japan's most sensitive defense networks.
On Monday, the Washington Post cited unnamed current and former U.S. and Japanese officials as saying that Chinese military hackers gained access to Japan's classified defense networks in 2020, accessing information about the U.S. ally's military capabilities, plans and assessments of shortcomings.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a regular press briefing on Tuesday Japan could not confirm whether any security information had been leaked.
The Post quoted one former U.S. military official as saying the breach was "bad - shockingly bad" and that the head of the U.S. National Security Agency flew to Tokyo to brief the Japanese defense minister, who asked the U.S. officials to alert the prime minister.
The paper said Japan had taken steps to strengthen its networks, but cited unnamed officials as saying that these were still deemed not sufficiently secure from spying by China, which could impede greater intelligence sharing between the Pentagon and Japan's Defense Ministry.
A Pentagon spokesperson, Sabrina Singh, declined to comment on the Post report, saying it would let Tokyo speak for its intelligence and cyber capabilities, but added: "We feel confident in our relationship and the intelligence sharing that we do with Japan and we're confident that we will continue that."
The U.S. National Security Agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Post report, which comes ahead of a trilateral summit between the United States, Japan and South Korea on Aug. 18, at which the three allies are expected to announce plans to step up security cooperation in the face of increasing concerns about China.
Asked about the Post report, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno said Japan and the U.S. have always been in close communication on various levels, and added:
"Due to the nature of the matter, I am unable to provide further details of the communication but we haven't confirmed the fact that security information has been leaked due to cyber attacks."
Matsuno said cyber security was the foundation for maintaining the Japan-U.S. alliance, and Japan would continue to work to keep its network firm and secure.
There was no immediate comment from Beijing.
The U.S., Japan and South Korea have been working on a joint statement for the summit to bind them more closely together on security issues, a U.S. official said last week.
The official said the allies were discussing installing a trilateral leader-level hotline and are expected to unveil other measures, including strengthening trilateral exercises and moves to boost cooperation on cyber security, missile defense and economic security.
© (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023.
22 Comments
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BigP
Why do we hear of these “unfortunate happenings” to the Japanese Gov from outside Japan? What are Japanese journalists doing, just waiting for a press release?
AlternativeOpinion
Network only as strong as the weakest link. Do better.
CigarCowboy
I honestly can’t understand why the Japanese government could even trust the United states after Edward Snowden’s revelations that the Japanese government was being spied on by the United States for so many years.
I guess it’s typical of both countries to let bygones be bygones as long as it’s in the name of fighting China or so they say.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Yeah, the US just won't share anything actually critical.
JeffersonLives
Good ole China, always trying to stop democracy…. I’m glad the free world is finally waking up to this threat.
Mark
""Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a regular press briefing on Tuesday Japan could not confirm whether any security information had been leaked.""
Wow, this statement in itself is Hacked too, LOL
yildiray
American sources tend to talk to American media.
A bigger question for me is why America is leaking this stuff to the media in the first place rather than talking to Japan.
Peter Neil
They did talk to Japan. People flew to Japan during the pandemic to address it. They knew the Chinese were still within the Japanese systems. They offered technical assistance. Japan didn’t really want assistance. They wanted to do the Japanese way.
This has been going on for years and still not resolved. I don’t believe for a minute US is exchanging critical intelligence with Japan anymore.
Kaowaiinekochanknaw
Just feed em dud intel.
Muddy the waters
deanzaZZR
Bad idea if true. The Japanese don't have the chops for this kind of cyber sleuthing and counter-sleuthing.
wanderlust
The CIA, NSA, NRO, DIA and all of the other acronymic agencies can just fax the information to Japan. That's probably as secure as it gets!
lunatic
The hackers even got the PIN of Kishida's MyNumber card.
Now he has to change it before the Chinese claim his ¥1000 in MyNumber points.
YankeeX
Not at all surprised by this article. Japan is popular amongst hackers as their network security is weak and tend to pay the ransom out of fear of public embarrassment. Japanese companies/government rely too heavily on Japanese system integrators (SI) who are glorified project managers with NO technical ability and knowledge.
TaiwanIsNotChina
You're an older man, Jack Burton. I don't know why this statement delights you so much.
voiceofokinawa
The catch is how the Pentagon came to know Japan's defense networks had been hacked by Chinese hackers before Japan's ministry of defense knew it.
elephant200
All countries do hacking, no exception. Japan should send congratulations to China 's success. Spy war is like an Olympic games of competition in brains and strategy
Agent_Neo
More budget is needed to prevent unauthorized access from China to the Japanese government and companies.
We must also counter the Chinese military that illegally invades Japan's territory and territorial waters, including the Senkaku Islands.
After all, China is an aggressor nation, and it is only an enemy country of Japan.
elephant200
Chinese military hackers gained access to most sensitive defense networks.
The Chinese could knew the Japanese anti submarine capabilities or related information, then they are already half won the imminent war !
elephant200
There could be a "Richard Sorge" working for China in Japan. Can be a man or woman who is sympathetic with China's struggle and hatred of U.S.
Sorge was a German reporter who tipped vital stragetic information to Stalin in 1941 that saved the Soviet Union and the tide of W.W.2. History always repeat with hero's who made it behind curtains.
opheliajadefeldt
The Pentagon said on Tuesday it was confident about sharing intelligence with Japan..............But is Japan or any other nation confident of sharing intelligence with the USA, given their appalling cyber security network.