
A former U.S. State Department official says Japan should strengthen its relatively weak cybersecurity to remove a major barrier to increased American-Japanese defense cooperation.While the two countries are already working together in several defense areas, including co-development of the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA missile defense interceptor and Japan’s planned purchase of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, many areas for cooperation remain untapped because the U.S. government and American defense contractors have low confidence in Japan’s overall ability to protect sensitive…