The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said a fourth communications and electronic warfare squadron would be established to counter Chinese cyberattacks.
“To counter Chinese hacking and its cyberwarfare capabilities, the ministry’s Communications, Electronics and Information Division will add a squadron to its existing three squadrons and the ministry will also allocate more money for its cyberwarfare capabilities,” Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) said during a meeting of legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
He added that the Communications, Electronics and Information Division is scheduled to conduct joint exercises with other parts of the military this year.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Vice Minister of National Defense Lieutenant General Liao Jung-hsing (廖榮鑫) said that more than 3,000 military personnel are involved with cybersecurity.
The military has been subject to a number of Chinese hacking attacks, has learned its cyberattack models and has enhanced cybersecurity capabilities, Liao said.
National Security Bureau Vice Director Chang Kuang-yuan (張光遠) said that China has been expanding its cyberwarfare capabilities since 2002 and there are more than 100,000 people working for it, with Beijing budgeting more than NT$80 million (US$2.71 million) a year for the hackers.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said that Taiwan has plenty of people who are highly skilled using electronic information, so the bureau and the ministry should recruit more people.
Chang said the bureau shares the same idea, but it needs better plans to attract talent.
He said China is also recruiting college students to bolster the ranks of its cyberwarfare personnel, and the bureau estimated that between 6,000 and 10,000 students could join China’s cyberwarfare army in coming years.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said the government should immediately enact a law barring China from participating in public tenders for communications facilities.
The director of the Executive Yuan’s Information Security Office, Hsiao Hsiu-chin (蕭秀琴), said that while the government only uses domestic communications products, systems and facilities for government use, Chinese products might be chosen by communications companies.
Both the defense ministry and the bureau said they did not use any Chinese communications products because of security concerns.
Meanwhile, the ministry said that malicious e-mails received by several members of the military recently did not cause any damage to the military’s internal network or result in information leaks because of timely response measures.
Several military figures recently received e-mails with subject lines related to the Han Kuang military exercises that were infected with viruses, ministry spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) said in response to a local report on Sunday.
They found the e-mails in their private e-mail accounts, and the ministry’s information security unit took immediate measures to deal with the problem, he said.
The Chinese-language United Evening News reported on Sunday that the e-mails were sent to members of the military one day after the ministry held a news conference on March 26 to brief the media on the details of this year’s Han Kuang exercises.
The ministry could not rule out the possibility that the e-mails were related to Chinese cyberattacks on Taiwan, Lo said, but added that it was difficult to identify the actual origin of such attacks.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
GREATER REACH? Auto parts and wood products would face tariffs of up to 15%, matching those targeting the EU, Japan and South Korea, Vice Premier said The US has announced that preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan’s non-semiconductor Section 232 goods would take effect retroactively from May 1, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The US government yesterday posted a notice on the Federal Register’s public inspection Web site previewing tariff concessions for Taiwan under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Taiwan-US investment after two months of negotiations. The MOU signed on Jan. 15 stipulated three major preferential tariff arrangements: a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate for Taiwan without stacking most-favored nation (MFN) rates; preferential Section 232 treatment for semiconductors and related products; and preferential Section 232 treatment for non-semiconductor
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RSS