Japan enacts cyber crime law to levy tougher penalties

In another interesting development for international cyber crime prevention, Japan's parliament has reportedly enacted a new law which will mean tougher prison terms for those who create or spread malware.

The cyber crime bill cleared Japan's upper house with a massive majority, showing the desire among lawmakers in the country to crack down on virus writers is as strong as it is in the west.

Under the new bill, those found guilty of creating or distributing malware could get a maximum of three years in prison or ¥500,000 (£3,856) in fines, while the acquisition or storage of a virus is punishable by up to two years in prison or ¥300,000 (£2,314) in fines, the Japan Times said.

More interestingly it also allows law enforcers to seize any servers which might have been connected to a computer seized for investigation, and enables them to request ISPs to store communications data, including email sender and recipient, for up to 60 days.

The law will apparently bring Japan closer to joining the Convention on Cybercrime, an international treaty seeking to harmonise laws across the globe on cyber crime and in effect leave no safe havens where criminals can hide.

Japan's appetite for clamping down on cyber crime is certainly welcome news, although as a developed nation which has always followed western trends, it might not be such a surprise.

The trick will be to get countries including Moldova, Belarus and China to join up to the convention. Then we might be getting somewhere.