The Executive Yuan has launched a special project to improve data protection across government ministries and agencies ahead of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) second-term inauguration on Wednesday, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka said yesterday.
Kolas’ remarks came amid media reports of an alleged cyberattack on the Presidential Office on Friday, in which an e-mail account named “ser lo” purportedly sent members of the media on the office’s contact list files related to the Cabinet member selection for Tsai’s second term and assessments of vice president-elect William Lai (賴清德) from early last year, when he ran against Tsai in the Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential primary.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau on Saturday confirmed that the Presidential Office had reported the incident, adding that it had begun an investigation.
Ahead of the inauguration, the Executive Yuan has initiated a project to combat an increasing number of cyberattacks from overseas, even though the Presidential Office already has a cybersecurity team probing the suspected cyberattack and the Executive Yuan does not plan to intervene in that, Kolas said.
The Executive Yuan has set up a Security Operation Center, which would oversee efforts to protect users in non-military zones when they access government Web sites and defend against distributed denial-of-service attacks, said an Executive Yuan official, who did not want to be named.
Another center that collects and monitors data-related information has also been set up, allowing prompt alerts to be sent to regional servers to curb the spread of computer viruses when malware is detected, the official said.
Separately yesterday, a high-ranking national security official said on condition of anonymity that Friday’s alleged cyberattack was possibly hackers connected to the Chinese Communist Party attempting to hurt morale ahead of the inauguration.
The recipients of the e-mails from “ser lo” included several high-level managers in the local media, the official said, adding that the perpetrators must have been familiar with local media and politics, or been assisted by Taiwanese.
Regarding the new Cabinet, sources said that Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) would replace David Lee (李大維) as National Security Council secretary-general, while Lee would become the Straits Exchange Foundation chairman.
Former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would become the representative to the US, while Representative to the UK David Lin (林永樂) would retire and his position would be filled by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kelly Hsieh (謝武樵).
Presidential Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) last night said on Facebook that she would be leaving her position on Wednesday.
Chen reportedly is to be nominated by Tsai to serve as president of the Control Yuan.
Additional reporting by Yang Chun-hui, Lu Yi-hsuan and CNA
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS