Japan investigates defence leak

Defence officials blame Fujitsu for the leak

Japanese police are investigating a possible leak of sensitive information from military computers, amid reports that the stolen data could be sold to North Korea.

Japan's Defence Agency was told of the possible leak in July by computer manufacturer Fujitsu, which was working on the agency's computer network.

A group of men - believed to include a former Japanese military official - approached Fujitsu offering to sell back the secrets.

The blackmailers suggested they could sell the computer information to North Korea, Japanese media reported.

One of the would-be blackmailers was a former member of the Maritime Self-Defence Force, Japanese media reported, though that was not immediately confirmed by Fujitsu or investigating officers in the city of Kanagawa, southwest of Tokyo.

Extortion demands

The naval officer was said to be among the group which contacted Fujitsu about a month ago claiming to have obtained information on defence systems from a Fujitsu employee.

They demanded money for the network diagrams and internet protocol addresses, threatening to sell them to North Korea if they were not paid off.

Executives from Fujitsu met the men at a Tokyo hotel and were reportedly handed more than 10 pages of printed materials.

Fujitsu and the defence ministry later confirmed the documents were excerpts from data on how computers are linked in the new network and other information on its communications system.

Nationwide links

The network links the host computer at the defence headquarters to computers at garrisons across the nation.

Military chiefs said the defence network is not vulnerable to attack because it is not connected to the internet.

They said it was also protected by firewalls and software that can detect illegal access.

Defence officials have blamed Fujitsu for the leak, while the company says it is still trying to determine how the data found its way into the hands of the blackmailers.

Two years ago, Japan delayed the introduction of a computer system after learning it used software developed by the Aum Shinrikyo cult.