The Ministry of National Defense (MND) has stepped up measures to avoid classified information leaks concerning this year’s Han Kuang military exercise as computer-based warfare simulation for the exercise gets underway.
An official with the ministry’s communications and electronics department, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Taipei Times that in addition to constant renewals of virus protection on the computers and constant education and reminders for its personnel, a stricter security measure has been implemented whereby no related personnel may continue their work outside the office after office hours.
All computers and disks with classified information must remain onsite and they must be formatted when the entire project is finished, the official said.
PAST ERRORS
Last year an official involved in the warfare simulation for the Han Kuang military exercise brought his laptop with classified information home and continued to work after office hours. When downloading software from Chinese Web sites onto his laptop, back-door access programs were also installed. Hackers then stole the classified information from his computer without the officer’s knowledge.
THREE THREATS
Usually the department’s major challenges include human errors, hacker attacks and virus problems, the official said. Most human error is the result of negligence when some military personnel bring USB disks or laptops with classified information home to continue their work.
Some other service men and women might not strictly follow the rules to format related disks or delete classified information when they have finished their work.
“Many officers work too hard. They brought home information that should never leave the house after office hours otherwise. They never thought that classified information would leak just like that,” the official said. “As the result, we have constantly educated our fellow military personnel and I believe mistakes like that will be decreased and avoided.”
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai