The Presidential Office, the ministries of health and welfare, foreign affairs and the Interior, as well as the Financial Supervisory Commission, were the government agencies most targeted by hackers last year, a high-level government source said.
The government classifies information security incidents into four levels based on their severity, with level 1 being the lightest and level 4 being the most severe.
A level 1 incident involves temporarily disabling or defacing a Web page, while level 2 and level 3 incidents refer to crashing the secondary and the main system respectively.
Photo: Lin Yen-tung, Taipei Times
Taiwan has not had a level 4 incident, which would be when the core systems of more than one government agency crash, and state secrets are stolen.
Last year, 151 incidents were reported by ministries and agencies overseen by the Executive Yuan — 116 level 1 incidents, 31 level 2 incidents and four level 3 incidents — government data showed.
Malware was found last year in the health ministry’s core information security system, which had apparently been implanted to steal information on Taiwanese covered by the National Health Insurance (NHI) program, a senior government official said on condition of anonymity.
“Fortunately, we were able to stop the level 3 attack before the NHI information could be snatched,” the official said, adding that Chinese hackers were believed to be behind the attack.
The foreign ministry, the interior ministry and the commission all experienced a level 3 attack last year, the official said.
The attack on the foreign ministry targeted the travel information of Taiwanese registered with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, while the interior ministry’s automatic immigration clearance system at the nation’s airports was hit, the official said.
Hackers targeting the commission stole NT$1.8 billion (US$60.27 million at the current exchange rate) from Far Eastern International Bank (遠東商銀), they said.
The Presidential Office was targeted seven times — six at level 1 and one at level 2.
The cyberattacks targeting its information security system had a low success rate thanks to its extensive protection measures, they said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source