Taiwan faced malicious cybersecurity threats at an average of about 15,000 times per second during the first six months of this year, an 80 percent increase from the same period last year, a report published yesterday by Fortinet showed.
A key hub of the global supply chain, Taiwan has in the past few years emerged as a hot spot for cybersecurity threats, the report by the US-based cybersecurity firm said.
Of the 412 billion malicious cybersecurity threats detected in the Asia-Pacific region during the first half of this year, Taiwan accounted for 55 percent, or 22.48 billion threats, the report said.
Photo: Reuters
On average, nearly 15,000 cyberattacks occurred per second, it said.
Meanwhile, the number of cyberattacks detected from January to June jumped 81.6 percent compared with the same period last year, it said.
The most common types of cyberattacks used by hackers include distributed denial of service attacks and DoublePulsar, a backdoor implant tool developed by the US National Security Agency, Fortinet said.
DoublePulsar, which was leaked by a hacker group in 2017, allows attackers to stealthily collect information and run malicious code on a target’s machine.
Although the amount of ransomware detected plunged 93.4 percent compared with last year, Taiwanese corporations should not let down their guard, as hackers are changing their techniques, the report said.
Instead of launching random attacks on software and hardware, hackers now focus more on targeted attacks to maximize their return on investment, it said.
Fortinet Taiwan manager Eric Wu (吳章銘) said that Taiwanese enterprises should deploy information security solutions driven by artificial intelligence systems, while adopting highly integrated and automated smart platforms.
In so doing, corporate information security teams can better understand vulnerabilities and quickly detect cyberattacks, Wu said.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS