Letters: Beware cyber warfare

Recently, officials confirmed to major media outlets that Chinese hackers have attacked sensitive government sites in Britain, France, Germany and the US.

It is not clear whether the Chinese government or Chinese citizens are doing it. But no matter who is behind these assaults, it is clear that "informationized armed forces" are one of the three pillars of China's military strategy.

The People's Liberation Army established its cyber army in 1999, and the group has been expanding ever since.

Its main activities include hacking into or interfering with the computer systems of other countries; infecting them with viruses or worms; and causing a "denial of service" server overload by bombarding computer systems with so much information that they become inoperable.

China is beginning to realize that cyber warfare is less expensive and more discreet than large spy networks or vast armies.

Its cyber army is growing in strength, and this poses a particularly menacing threat to Taiwan, which is the major target of China's military.

We have to beware China's cyber warfare.

We urgently need to consolidate our military's information security and strengthen our military's defenses against China's cyber warfare.

Ho Ping-jung

Taipei