China has been escalating its cyberwarfare against Taiwan, using an army of 180,000 cyberspies and more sophisticated methods to hack and steal information from government agencies and industries, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report to the legislature yesterday.
The report said that this “cyberarmy” works at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) General Staff Headquarters and its seven regional command centers, as well as national defense research and development agencies, state research centers and major universities.
“All our government and military agencies, industrial facilities, science and technology centers are vulnerable and under increasing attack by Chinese cyberwarfare,” NSB Director-General Lee Shying-jow (李翔宙) said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Taking his agency as an example, Lee said the bureau’s Web site detected 7.226 million hacking incidents last year, including 238,764 malicious attacks.
That is more than double the figure of 3.44 million hacking attempts (70,000 malicious attacks) found in 2012, bureau officials told lawmakers during a question-and-answer session in April last year.
Lee and bureau officials confirmed that the majority of these hacker intrusions and cyberattacks originated in China.
Lee said Taiwan faces an increasing Chinese cyberespionage threat on two fronts.
First, as the administration of government Web sites and network security management is increasingly contracted out to the private sector, China’s cyberarmy has targeted these Internet service providers and software developers, hacking into Web administrator accounts to plant malware or steal sensitive information from government sites.
Second is the upsurge in the use of smartphones, tablet computers and other personal mobile devices among the public and government employees, with the number estimated to have reached 10.53 million individuals last year, out of the nation’s total population of 23.37 million.
Lee said China’s cyberforce has developed various types of malicious apps and virus software that users unwittingly download to their telephones and other mobile devices.
“These malicious mobile apps hack into the user’s smartphone operating system, from where it gains access and hijacks personal data, including e-mail account passwords and contact lists, and can even monitor telephone conversations,” he added.
Taiwan’s national security and military agencies were alerted by a report by Canadian journal Kanwa Asian Defence Monthly this week, which said a PLA surveillance station on Hong Kong’s highest mountain, Tai Mo Shan, is equipped with the latest technology to intercept and record signals from cellphones, Wi-Fi networks and radio transmissions.
Kanwa said the station’s equipment includes an intelligence antenna typical of PLA Unit 61398 in Shanghai, which is said to be a main Chinese cyberwarfare and commercial espionage operations center against foreign countries.
Lee added that Chinese cyberspies had intensified their operations, targeting not only Taiwanese government agencies, but also political parties and their affiliated organizations, academics and research institutes, to collect personal information, such as job titles, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers.
These Chinese cyberunits then send out malware or viruses in the guise of e-mails announcing important official events to entice recipients to open them, allowing them to hack into these targeted groups, Lee said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS