A new draft cybersecurity bill that aims to protect sensitive government information is to rank government agencies on a three-tier system according to the data they handle, sources said.
A total of 123 key government institutions, including the Presidential Office, the National Security Council, the Executive Yuan, the Ministry of National Defense and the National Security Bureau, have been identified by the Executive Yuan as tier-A organizations in terms of information security interests, a source who declined to be named said.
The institutions would be required to conform to semiannual inspections, as well as conduct cyberattack response drills at least once a year.
While relations between China and Taiwan seemingly thawed during former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) tenure, former premier Simon Chang (張善政) had previously acknowledged that attacks on Taiwan’s computer systems by Chinese hackers were still frequent at that time.
The Democratic Progressive Party resolved to upgrade computer security measures at government organizations after it took power in May and learned of the frequency of cyberattacks, sources said.
The government sees information security as synonymous with national security and places great importance on its protection, sources said, adding that the Executive Yuan earlier this year established the Department of Cybersecurity, which is tasked with implementing its draft bill on information security.
The Executive Yuan is expected to approve the proposed bill next month, the sources said, adding that all central and divisional government organizations and associated enterprises will be ranked as tier A, B or C according to the level of sensitivity of the information they handle, with tier A denoting the highest level of sensitivity and C the lowest.
Some ostensibly less at-risk organizations such as the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the Directorate-General of Highways and the Central Weather Bureau would be classified as tier A given the importance the information they work with, sources said.
The government computer systems of the six special municipalities — Taipei, New Taipei City, Kaohsiung, Taoyuan, Taichung and Tainan — would also fall under tier-A regulations due to their high populations, sources said.
The tier-B classification would cover organizations working with less sensitive information such as the National Archives Administration, the Bureau of Cultural Affairs and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The remaining 6,310 government organizations, such as Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc and state-run Matsu Daily News would fall under tier C, sources said.
Tier-A core computer systems would all require authentication for data access and operators would need to be certified, sources said, adding that at tier-B organizations only two core systems where sensitive data is kept would require authentication for access.
Tier-C organizations would determine themselves what information requires authentication to retrieve, the sources said.
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