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System error: Japan cybersecurity minister admits he has never used a computer
A Japanese minister in charge of cybersecurity has provoked astonishment by admitting he has never used a computer in his professional life, and appearing confused by the concept of a USB drive. Yoshitaka Sakurada, 68, is the deputy chief of the government's cybersecurity strategy office and also the minister in charge of the Olympic and Paralympic Games that Tokyo will host in 2020.
In parliament on Wednesday however, he admitted he doesn't use computers. "Since the age of 25, I have instructed my employees and secretaries, so I don't use computers myself," he said in a response to an opposition question in a lower house session, local media reported.
He also appeared confused by the question when asked about whether USB drives were in use at Japanese nuclear facilities. His comments were met with incredulity by opposition lawmakers. "It's unbelievable that someone who has not touched computers is responsible for cybersecurity policies," said opposition lawmaker Masato Imai.
And his comments provoked a firestorm online. "Doesn't he feel ashamed?" wrote one Twitter user. "Today any company president uses a PC. He doesn't even know what a USB is. Holy cow."
Another joked that perhaps Sakurada was simply engaged in his own kind of cybersecurity. "If a hacker targets this Minister Sakurada, they wouldn't be able to steal any information. Indeed it might be the strongest kind of security!"
Also at NYT, The Register, and Reuters.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by jb on Friday November 16 2018, @04:04AM
Perhaps this isn't as silly as it sounds.
"Don't use computers" is indeed a highly effective cybersecurity strategy. Not one that any of us subscribe to of course, and I suspect he would have great difficulty selling that idea to the rest of the population.
But if you start from a position of "don't use anything", then build a positive list of what's safe to use, by adding each item to it only when you fully understand exactly how that item works & all of its associated risks, have assessed those risks and documented exactly why they're considered acceptable, that's starting to sound quite sensible (particularly if the users of the policy his department creates are other government agencies responsible for maintaining critical infrastructure or supposedly confidential records of citizens].
Now, I don't think for a moment that this Minister could do that himself. But that's not his job. His job is to instruct his staff to do the work, then to ask them questions about it until he is satisfied that no stone has been left unturned. "Can you explain this accurately, completely & effectively to someone with no knowledge of computers?" is a pretty good test for an infosec auditor as to whether he's actually done his job, rather than just regurgitating the buzz-words of the week in random order.
This Minister is probably much better placed to ask those questions and make the call as to whether the answers are sufficient than the average politician who has already been conditioned to trust blindly just about any tech (despite probably being just as ignorant about how any of it works).