Initial Disclosure Date: Oct 15, 2013

As malware is becoming more sophisticated and it is harder for Internet users to protect themselves from such cyber threats, the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) launches the Advanced Cyber Threats response InitiatiVE or ACTIVE project with Japanese ISPs and cybersecurity companies on November 1, 2013. The project aims to help Internet users minimize their exposure to cyber threats, particularly malicious websites.

The MIC is proud of starting the ACTIVE, which is the first public-private joint effort to counter malware threats. The ministry uses client honeypots to gather information on malicious websites and makes a list of their URLs. Internet users who register themselves for the ACTIVE service in advance receive a warning when they try to access such a website on the list. The ministry encourages the administrators of such websites to delete malware through ISPs on the ACTIVE team (the list of current members is available at https://www.active.go.jp/active/group.html). Hitachi, Ltd. provides technical support to collect information on malware and delete them. The MIC established a website for the ACTIVE project on October 15 at https://www.active.go.jp/, although all the information is only available in Japanese.

Sources:

1. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), “’ACTIVE” no jisshi oyobi ‘ACTIVE suishin foramu’ no kaisai [’ACTIVE’ and ‘ACTIVE promotion forum’],” October 1, 2013,
   http://www.soumu.go.jp/menu_news/s-news/01ryutsu03_02000059.html
2. MIC, “ISP jigyo-sha to renkei shita maruuea kansen boshi katsudo nit suite [Our new efforts with ISPs to prevent malware infections],”
   https://www.active.go.jp/active/active02.html#services
3. MIC, “ACTIVE no taisei [Members of ACTIVE],”
   https://www.active.go.jp/active/group.html

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