Japan outlaws virus creation

A three-year prison term and/or a fine awaits people who write or deliberately spread malware in Japan, a computer security firm reported Saturday. Sophos senior technology consultant Graham Cluley reported that the Japanese Parliament enacted laws that impose or prison terms of up to three years. “Up until now, you could only expect to feel your collar felt by the computer crime authorities in Japan if the malware you had created had caused some damage, now just the act of writing it would seem to be enough," Cluley said in a blog post. The new law lets police seize the email communications of suspects from Internet Service Providers (ISPs), but Cluley noted this may raise concerns among privacy campaigners. Citing news reports, Cluley said the law may impose on individuals who create and supply computer viruses “without any reasonable excuse" up to three years in jail, or a fine of up to ¥500,000 (approximately $6,000). Acquisition and storage of viruses is punishable by a prison sentence of up to two years, or ¥300,000 in fines. “One hopes that common sense will prevail and that those with a legitimate reason to store and acquire malware (anti-virus vendors for instance!) don’t find themselves facing such charges," Cluley said. Cluley said virus-writing is not completely unknown in Japan, citing the arrest of a man last year for spreading malware via the Winny peer-to-peer file-sharing network. In that instance, the malware changed the icons of infected computers to those of an orange cartoon octopus. At the time, police officers claimed that the man had infected approximately 50,000 computers with the malware. — TJD, GMA News