Meet the man who has never used computer in life becomes Japan’s cyber-security head

A Japanese minister, identified as Yoshitaka Sakurada, in charge of cybersecurity took the whole world by surprise after having confessed that he has never even used a computer in his career.

The 68-year-old veteran 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 the year 2020.

Credits: BBC.com

In parliament, 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, according to a translation by the Kyodo news agency, in a response to an opposition question in a lower house session as reported by the local media.

It all started when he got confused by the question when he was asked about “whether USB drives were in use” at Japanese nuclear facilities. “It’s unbelievable that someone who has not touched computers is responsible for cybersecurity policies,” said opposition lawmaker Masato Imai.

His shocking remarked triggered users on Twitter: “Doesn’t he feel ashamed?” wrote one Twitter user. “Today any company president uses a Personal Computer. He doesn’t even know what a USB (Universal Serial Bus) is. Holy cow.” one more user joked that maybe Sakurada was busy with 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!”

Hailing from Chennai, Chaithanya G is the Managing Director of TheYouth. He has dedicated his whole life to reading and writing.