The government is planning to upgrade the nation’s information security protection plan against hackers, improve the Presidential Office’s computer system and inspect the anti-wiretapping efforts at embassies and representative offices abroad, according to budget proposals submitted by Cabinet agencies and ministries for the next fiscal year.
The National Security Council’s proposed budget shows that the upgrade plan would reinforce protection of crucial infrastructure and collaboration between the public and private sectors over information security mechanisms.
The plan would also enhance participation with operators from the information security industry and develop skilled professionals in the field, the council said in its proposal.
The council has budgeted NT$3.65 million (US$123,628) for an international information security conference and visits to information security institutions, think tanks, and the nation’s embassies and overseas offices to see how they fare in coping with information security threats.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ proposal outlines plans to ask the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau to inspect the anti-wiretapping facilities in the nation’s more than 100 missions abroad to counter eavesdropping efforts from China.
The Presidential Office plans to spend NT$70 million to improve its computer system to comply with the Cybersecurity Management Act (資通安全管理法), such as securing ISO27001 certification for the administrative system.
It also has plans to reinforce the protection of its Web site, visitor system, official document system and core cybersecurity system.
The planned upgrades follow a hacking attack on the office’s system in May, after which the Investigation Bureau determined that Chinese hacking groups such as Blacktech and Taidoor had infiltrated the Taipei City Government and nine central government agencies, as well as four private information service providers, over the past three years to steal confidential information.
The Executive Yuan has budgeted NT$3.31 million to address cybersecurity issues, such as enforcing cybersecurity laws and hosting drills and dispatching representatives to attend the meetings of the APEC Telecommunications and Information Working Group, the Digital Dialogue Public Forum on US-Taiwan Security Cooperation, Blackhat Asia and others.
Executive Yuan officials said that it would develop the National Cyber Security Plan to introduce measures to turn the nation into a smart country, and implement three projects related to cybersecurity protection from next year to 2025.
The National Communications Commission wants NT$178.87 million to build a cybersecurity protection mechanism for the Internet of Things, as well as build a key communication network that can identify threats and attacks and issue alarms.
Part of the budget would be allocated to build a certification system for communication networks, the commission’s proposal said.
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