ID :
11281
Wed, 07/02/2008 - 10:59
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/11281
The shortlink copeid
GSDF officer's theft leads to loss of data on Japan-U.S. joint drill
TOKYO, July 2 Kyodo - The Ground Self-Defense Force's Middle Army headquarters in Itami, Hyogo Prefecture, lost a USB flash memory device in February last year that contained data on a Japan-U.S. joint exercise but chose not to make the incident public,
Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Tuesday.
The case highlighted lax management of intelligence in the Self-Defense Forces
as the incident occurred only a month after an alleged leakage of information
related to the highly sensitive Aegis defense system within the Maritime
Self-Defense Force.
Ishiba told a press conference Tuesday that a captain in his 30s belonging to
the headquarters confessed to stealing the flash memory device at the office
and dumping it as garbage.
The Defense Ministry announced in May last year that it suspended the GSDF
officer for 60 days, alleging he had stolen his colleague's money and skipped
duty without notice. But the ministry did not say he was involved in the loss
of the USB memory device.
Ishiba said the ministry then chose to keep secret the loss of the information
related to Japan-U.S. joint drills for fear that the announcement could
encourage potential wrongdoers to look for the data or try to spread it.
''For now, I don't recognize there was any flaw'' in the announcement by the
ministry, Ishiba said, trying to dismiss criticism for concealing the
misconduct of an SDF member.
The data in the flash memory device were categorized as ''careful'' in handling
but stealing data in the category would not be subject to criminal penalty.
In January 2007, about a month before the incident, confidential data on the
Aegis defense system leaked among members of the MSDF, prompting the United
States to caution Japan on the handling of defense intelligence.
The public relations office of the Defense Ministry's Ground Staff Office said
it received a report on the incident from the Middle Army headquarters but did
not make it public due to the merely ''careful'' category of the data.
The public relations office denied the intent to conceal information.
The GSDF said the data were about a February 2007 Japan-U.S. joint simulation
of the case of an attack on Japan.
An officer working on the data left the flash memory device on a desk after
leaving the office and found it lost the following day, GSO officials said.
An in-house probe uncovered the theft but any leak of data to the outside has
not been confirmed, they said.==Kyodo
Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Tuesday.
The case highlighted lax management of intelligence in the Self-Defense Forces
as the incident occurred only a month after an alleged leakage of information
related to the highly sensitive Aegis defense system within the Maritime
Self-Defense Force.
Ishiba told a press conference Tuesday that a captain in his 30s belonging to
the headquarters confessed to stealing the flash memory device at the office
and dumping it as garbage.
The Defense Ministry announced in May last year that it suspended the GSDF
officer for 60 days, alleging he had stolen his colleague's money and skipped
duty without notice. But the ministry did not say he was involved in the loss
of the USB memory device.
Ishiba said the ministry then chose to keep secret the loss of the information
related to Japan-U.S. joint drills for fear that the announcement could
encourage potential wrongdoers to look for the data or try to spread it.
''For now, I don't recognize there was any flaw'' in the announcement by the
ministry, Ishiba said, trying to dismiss criticism for concealing the
misconduct of an SDF member.
The data in the flash memory device were categorized as ''careful'' in handling
but stealing data in the category would not be subject to criminal penalty.
In January 2007, about a month before the incident, confidential data on the
Aegis defense system leaked among members of the MSDF, prompting the United
States to caution Japan on the handling of defense intelligence.
The public relations office of the Defense Ministry's Ground Staff Office said
it received a report on the incident from the Middle Army headquarters but did
not make it public due to the merely ''careful'' category of the data.
The public relations office denied the intent to conceal information.
The GSDF said the data were about a February 2007 Japan-U.S. joint simulation
of the case of an attack on Japan.
An officer working on the data left the flash memory device on a desk after
leaving the office and found it lost the following day, GSO officials said.
An in-house probe uncovered the theft but any leak of data to the outside has
not been confirmed, they said.==Kyodo
