Following Monday's detention of Chen Ing-hao (
Chen now faces up to three years behind bars or NT$30,000 in fines, according to Robert Chang, section chief of the National Police Administration's Computer Crime Squad (
The computer virus ravaged over 700,000 systems worldwide -- particularly those in China, Turkey and South Korea -- but spared most Taiwan computer users.
On April 26, 1999 Chernobyl broke out across the Internet, crashing more than half a million computers by reformatting -- and thereby erasing -- their hard drives and damaging a key chip inside the computer. The Chernobyl virus only activates once a year, on April 26th, the anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the former Soviet Union.
Although the virus caused millions of dollars of damage, charges were never formally brought against Chen until recently because "nobody filed a complaint against him," Chang said.
According to the Computer Crime Squad's Chang, despite the fact that the virus crashed over half a million computers in Turkey and South Korea -- including an airport in Izmir on Turkey's Aegean coast, Turkey's state-owned TRT television station and the Korean Supreme Court -- not a single company, official or individual filed a formal complaint against Chen.
When the virus recurred on April 26, 2000, however, a local high school student, whose computer hardrive suffered a meltdown, filed formal charges against Chen, local newspapers reported, and the virus author was subsequently arrested.
According to sources from XLinux International (
The XLinux spokesperson said Chen never intended for the virus to get out and has since developed an anti-virus that has not only been added to most major anti-virus protection programs but can also be found at xlinux.com and wahoo.com.tw.
Whether or not the author intended to cause harm, Chernobyl's wrath has caused damage estimated at hundreds of millions of US dollars.
"He probably got half a dozen job offers and he's probably a hero in his home town because they can't comprehend the damage done to computer hard drives and files around the world," said Russ McClay Pro QC Studios Web page specialist. "But it's really serious."
McClay believes Taiwan will be forced to enact tougher cyber laws by countries affected by viruses or other hacker crimes originating from here in the future.
"Taiwan doesn't want to be known as a haven for [computer] hackers and crackers," said McClay.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
RSS