Last up date: Oct 9, 2012

On September 7, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department held a meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Headquarters to discuss how to prepare for the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Tokyo between October 9th and 14th. It has been 48 years since Tokyo hosted the last annual meetings. Attendees will include Finance Ministers and Central Bank governors from about 180 countries. Deputy Superintendent Kiyotaka Takahashi emphasized, “There are so many concerns such as radical street protests, terrorism, and cyber-attacks. The situation sometimes gets worse quickly, following calls for some actions through the Internet.” He ordered some 120 senior police officers from the Security and Public Safety Divisions to share awareness of risk and take countermeasures in close coordination.

The Police Department has already conducted counter-terrorism training at the Haneda Airport and the Tokyo bay area, and pays close attention to any arrival of international terrorist group members. They also have tightened security against cyber-attacks on the websites of the public and private sectors.

According to the Sankei Shimbun dated October 7th, the following scenarios worry the authorities: undisclosed information about the meetings is stolen; the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Finance are defaced; the projection of PowerPoint on screen is disrupted. The organizers also have to provide secure communication lines both inside and outside the venues, and participants must be very careful with their mobile devices. When Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith visited Beijing for the first time, he and his staff reportedly did not bring their electronic devices including phones and laptops to take precautions against cyber espionage. He did not clarify if this rule is applied to any visits overseas. Yet, his following speech is worth listening to: "We place great score on the confidentiality of ministerial communications. Whether they're private or government institutions, people need to be aware of the security of their communications. The risk of cyber attack is real and people have to take the necessary precautions."

This is not the first time for the IMF to be targeted for cyber espionage. The IMF revealed in June 2011 that the organization had been under sophisticated cyber-attacks for several months. Malicious actors seemed to aim at installing malware to create a “digital insider presence.” A Bloomberg article dated June 14th, 2011, “IMF State-Backed Cyber-Attack Follows Hacks of Lab, G-20,” argues that the intrusion led to the leakage of a “large quantity” of data including documents and emails. The newspaper believes that the hacking was state-sponsored, although it does not identify the country. The organization had sensitive information on its economic bailout programs for Greece, Ireland, and Portugal as well as ongoing negotiations with member countries. Thus, any release of its database information may have a serious impact on the market, although it remains unknown whether the culprits were able to access the data or not. The World Bank temporarily cut its network connection with the Fund as a cautionary measure.

The IMF was also wary of Anonymous’ attacks because the hacktivist group had launched the Operation Empire State Rebellion (OpESR) to protest against the World Bank, Central Banks, and Federal Reserve in addition to the IMF. Anonymous also criticized that the IMF had approved a 110 billion euro-bailout package for Greece in return to cutting public services without referendum. An Anonymous member implied cyber-attacks on the IMF by tweeting, “#OperationGreece: Target: http://www.imf.org” on June 1, 2011.

Sources:
BBC News, “IMF hit by ‘very major’ cyber security attack,” June 12, 2011,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13740591
Stephen Foley, “Anti-capitalist hackers in the frame as IMF reveals cyber attack,” The Independent, June 13, 2011,
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/anticapitalist-hackers-in-the-frame-as-imf-reveals-cyber-attack-2296760.html
Jiji Press, “Tokyo Police to Launch Full Security for IMF  World Bank Meetings,” September 7, 2012,
http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2012090700882
Amy Lee, “International Monetary Fund Braces For Possible Hack Attack From Anonymous,” The Huffington Post, first posted June 1, 2011, updated August 1, 2011,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/01/anonymous-imf_n_869914.html
Mainichi Shimbun, “Tero sogo taisaku honbu kaigi: IMF sokai wo maeni --- Keishi-cho/Tokyo [The Metropolitan Police Department held a meeting of the counter-terrorism headquarters before the annual IMF meetings],” September 8, 2012,
http://mainichi.jp/area/tokyo/news/20120908ddlk13010212000c.html
Jonathan Pearlman, “Australian minister leaves phone and laptop in Hong Kong to avoid Chinese espionage,” The Telegraph, June 6, 2012,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9313242/Australian-minister-leaves-phone-and-laptop-in-Hong-Kong-to-avoid-Chinese-espionage.html
Michael Riley and Sandrine Rastello, “IMF State-Backed Cyber-Attack Follows Hacks of Lab, G-20,” Bloomberg, June 14, 2011,
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-11/imf-computer-system-infiltrated-by-hackers-said-to-work-for-foreign-state.html
David E. Sanger and John Markoff, “I.M.F. Reports Cyberattack Led to ‘Very Major Breach’,” The New York Times, June 11, 2011,
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/world/12imf.html
Sankei　Shimbun, “Mikohyo joho kara yomitori, saito kaizan… saiba kogeki ni genkai 9ka kara IMF Segin sokai [High alert against cyber espionage to steal undisclosed information and cyber-attacks to deface websites during the annual meeting of the IMF and World Bank, starting the 9th],” October 7, 2012,
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/news/121007/crm12100721420014-n2.htm
TV Asahi, “IMF sokai wo maeni… Keishi-cho ga ‘tero sogo taisaku kaigi’ [The Metropolitan Police Department held a meeting of the counter-terrorism headquarters before the annual IMF meetings],” September 7, 2012,
http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/ann/news/web/html/220907059.html

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