TMCnet News

Japanese editorial excerpts -3-+
[March 20, 2006]

Japanese editorial excerpts -3-+


(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, March 21_(Kyodo) _ Selected editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

LEAKS OF INFORMATION (IHT/Asahi as translated from the Japanese-language Asahi Shimbun's editorial published March 20)

Confidential information, including codes used by the Self-Defense Forces, the contents of criminal investigations, patients' case histories and students' scholastic achievements, has been leaked on the Internet.

The data escaped because of a virus that infected personal computers installed with the Winny peer-to-peer file-sharing program.

What is surprising is that many of the leaks of information have come from police officers' computers. The person who developed Winny is now on trial on a charge of abetting PC users in violation of the Copyright Law. But many police officers had installed Winny on their own PCs.



Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe called on the public not to use the Winny program, apparently in a bid to end the series of information leaks.

But the problem cannot be solved by treating Winny as the sole villain. Other types of viruses can also leak information from PCs. With more destructive viruses expected to be created in the days ahead, we should take a radical new look on how we treat information in the Internet age.


The portability of information these days has led to careless handling. And with PCs always connected to the Internet, the information stored is constantly at risk of being leaked to the outside world.

PC users should keep that firmly in mind. It is also necessary for the government and businesses to check the security of their computers and change the way information is being managed to reflect the level of secrecy needed for such data.

Of course, employees and officials should be prohibited from keeping sensitive information on privately owned PCs. Departments of government and businesses that handle secret information should make budget allocations to buy computers strictly for work.

Employees should not take workplace computers out of the office. But if the need arises, the computers should never be connected to the Internet.

Companies and government departments should also consider storing sensitive digital data in servers -- not the computer terminals.

Those who use computers at home for their personal purposes should also be careful. They should update their anti-virus programs whenever possible.

A different way of thinking is needed in the Internet age. Every PC user should keep that in mind. (March 21)

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