US and Japanese spooks sign cyber threat sharing agreement

The US Department of Defence (DoD) and Japanese Ministry of Defence (MoD) have pledged to collaborate and share data when combating cyber threats, following concerns about hack groups in China and North Korea.

The countries announced the plans in a joint statement, revealing that the partnership will streamline data sharing between the two powers.

“The MoD and DoD, in cooperation with other relevant government agencies, are to explore how to improve cyber information sharing through various channels in a crisis environment,” read the statement.

“The sharing of information will include best practices on military training and exercises, education and workforce development. This may include site visits and joint training and exercises, as appropriate.”

A principal focus will be on critical infrastructure and the creation of more effective defence strategies.

“The MoD and DoD will ensure the resiliency of their respective networks and systems to achieve mission assurance,” read the statement.

“The MoD and DoD, mindful of whole-of-government efforts and in cooperation with other relevant government agencies, also intend to explore ways to strengthen cyber security for mission assurance and share best practices in mission assurance and critical infrastructure protection.”

The collaboration follows concerns about the threat posed by allegedly state-sponsored hacker groups. Attacks from China and North Korea have been a growing problem afflicting governments and businesses.

The US DoD issued a separate warning in May claiming that China’s People’s Liberation Army is developing “network killing” cyber attack tools that could knock a nation’s critical infrastructure offline.

North Korean defector professor Kim Heung-Kwang warned during an interview with the BBC that the country has over 6,000 trained military hackers in its army actively working to create cyber attacks that can kill.

State-sponsored North Korean hackers are believed to have been responsible for the high-profile attack on Sony that saw vast amounts of company data, including contracts and sensitive IP, leak online in 2014.

North Korean hackers are also believed to have mounted the infamous Dark Seoul attackswhich knocked South Korean banks and broadcasters offline in 2013.

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