Japan wages war on cybercrime

Tired of computer viruses? A quick and not so cheap solution (and arguably easier than some third party AV programs out there) is now to move to Japan.

The country has passed new legislation to crack down on all forms of cyber crimes, including distributing or creating malicious software, hacking, and child pornography. It’s been a huge war to get the new laws rolling, with a lot of privacy campaigners concerned about how their information is being watched, or treated under the “big brother eye” of the government.

The new rules allow authorities to pluck data from users’ personal computers, and are allowed to detain any suspicious email logs for up to 60 days. Although this is obviously being enforced to support the greater good, the Judical Affairs Committee have ensured police will only exert these powers when they really need to. Those convicted can be faced with an additional 3 years imprisonment, as well as a fine of ¥500,000, which is around £3800.

Overall, I think it’s a great step forward for our pulsating technological society. With new tech at every turn, and more users active every day, it’s good to see countries trying to implicate strong measures against cyber terrorists, and time will tell if it hopefully falls into place.