Japan reportedly has paid Fujitsu $2.3 million to build a self-replicating assassin squad — a computer virus it can set loose in the network to track down and eliminate other viruses.
Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the Defense Ministry’s Technical Research and Development Institute began developing the anti-viral virus in 2008. The government agency in charge of weapons development paid the heavy industries firm $2.3 million (178.5 million Yen) to create a virus that can analyze cyberattacks and even identify their source.
It sounds like an answer to Stuxnet or Duqu — cyberweapons so potent that one security official called them “the hydrogen bomb of cyberwarfare.†And the cyberwar is clearly heating up, said Dave Aitel, president and CEO of security firm Immunity Inc.
“Stuxnet was just the beginning,†Aitel told FoxNews.com. “Self-replicating code is an important part of any national arsenal … the Japanese are just getting started.â€
The cyberdefense tool would be able to trace an attack to its source, the paper reported, along the way disabling it and collecting key information. Such a tool is a clear escalation in online warfare, said Jeff Bardin, chief security strategist for Treadstone 71.
Full Story Via Foxnews