The National Security Council's (NSC) computer system was the target of an attempted e-mail attack Monday, according to a report in the Liberty Times, the Taipei Times' sister newspaper. According to sources, the attempted break-in was discovered yesterday afternoon, and a meeting was immediately called to discuss ways of beefing up network security.
According to the Liberty Times' source, the NSC's computers began acting up yesterday afternoon. An investigation revealed that e-mails containing a "trojan" program had been sent to NSC Deputy Secretary General Ko Cheng-heng's (
Ko is responsible for national security and cooperation with the US. As the e-mails contained the subject line "freedom" and "arms procurement," it is suspected that the hacker had a clear idea of his targets. Sources within the NSC said that such subject lines were intended to dupe the recipients into opening the e-mails and activating the trojan program.
Had the program been activated, the sender would have been able to see the contents of all the files on the NSC's computer system, including CDs and disks used on the system. Given the sensitivity of much of the materials, this e-mail attack, though unsuccessful, is being viewed with the utmost seriousness.
The e-mail was discovered on the computer of Ko's former secretary, who had been transferred to another post in July.
The current secretary had not yet checked e-mail, and as a result, the NSC's system was unaffected.
Similar e-mails were also sent to senior officials in other government departments, although the full extent of the attack is not yet known. Officials said that an investigation was underway.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
RSS