The Executive Yuan is considering establishing a national cybersecurity center to bolster the nation’s information security capabilities, and foster cybersecurity talent dedicated to research and development in the police force and the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB), as well as private entities, sources said yesterday.
The center would also promote international collaboration and joint research projects, the sources said.
The center, at an estimated cost of NT$818 million (US$27.72 million), would be established by 2022, they said, adding that it would be a collaborative project by the Executive Yuan’s Board of Science and Technology, and the National Center for Cyber Security Technology.
Photo: CNA
The center would allow the government to foster better cybersecurity personnel, the sources said, adding that the first phase of the program would focus on police officers and MJIB officials who have performed well.
Future efforts would target individuals who have the potential to become top-notch cybersecurity personnel in industry, academia or the corporate sector, or those who pursue a career in government, they said.
The center would address the nation’s need to boost Internet security, as malware is becoming increasingly sophisticated and requires more aggressive screening and preventive technologies, the sources added.
The 5G network, as well as a heavy focus on artificial intelligence technologies, is giving rise to new forms of cybersecurity threats, which would necessitate more innovative technologies to counter them, they said.
Increased computational capability is rendering the previous generation of encryption software protocols obsolete and new encryption protocols must be developed to ensure cybersecurity, a task the center would shoulder, they said.
While every government agency has appointed a separate head of cybersecurity, in accordance with the Cyber Security Enactment Act (資通安全管理法), the existence of many vacant positions shows that the government lacks sufficient qualified personnel, a deficiency the project hopes to rectify, they said.
The funds needed for the center’s establishment are being deliberated at the Legislative Yuan and are expected to be approved by the end of the year, they added.
Taiwan-US collaboration on cybersecurity has always been close and the nation is to launch similar collaboration with Germany and Australia, the sources said.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) places great emphasis on cybersecurity, Vice President William Lai (賴清德) has said.
Taiwan’s position in the first island chain makes it a natural target for China, and the invisible but “deadly” cyberwar against China is being waged every day at government agencies, and corporate and industrial companies, Lai told the Hacks in Taiwan Conference on Friday.
Chinese hackers have long targeted national secrets and the source codes used at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), as well as manufacturing processes and technologies, Lai said, adding that Taiwan cannot become complacent.
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS