Taiwan should step up efforts to prevent hackers and cyberattacks through cultivation of a “red team” of testers, Minister of Digital Development Audrey Tang (唐鳳) said at the legislature in Taipei yesterday.
During US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in August, many government agencies and private Web sites reported distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, while many convenience stores and infrastructure elements were hacked.
Saying that Taiwanese abhor cybercrime, independent Legislator Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書) asked the ministry whether it is confident about ensuring the nation’s information security.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Tang said that when the attacks were reported during Pelosi’s visit, the government distributed the data on the systems that had been attacked to other computers with novel content dissemination technologies to counter the attacks.
Departments in charge and system integrators learned from the experience how to rebuild the system using advanced technologies to protect them from further attacks, she said.
“Learning from the attacks is called tenacity,” she added.
Asked whether the ministry would proactively investigate and seize problematic information security products purchased from China by government agencies and the private sector, Tang said that it is a usual task carried out by the ministry and promised to focus more on preventing potential attacks.
Taiwan should develop its own “red team power” by ordering start-ups and information security companies to conduct regular health checks of their information security mechanisms, she said.
By “red team power,” she referred to the term “red team assessment” in information security — carrying out simulated attacks on businesses to test the security of their systems.
Random attacks would be launched at certain business targets during a designated period to test for information security loopholes and help businesses better protect their systems, she said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from