Beijing’s cognitive warfare tactics against Taiwan are becoming more sophisticated, with hackers targeting network devices to spread disinformation as next year’s presidential and legislative elections near, prosecutors and judicial authorities said, adding that several hacks targeting Taiwanese had been traced to Hong Kong.
Cognitive warfare tactics against Taiwan are constantly evolving, from disseminating disinformation through crude messages using simplified Chinese characters and Chinese slang during the COVID-19 pandemic to spreading false news through nearly 1,500 social media accounts during the run-up to last year’s local elections, sources familiar with the matter said.
This year, foreign forces have shifted their methods, hacking Internet of Things (IoT) devices in Taiwan that use weak passwords to spread disinformation as though it was coming from a Taiwanese, the sources said.
Photo: REUTERS
The hackers seek to publish messages through a target’s social media account after gaining control of their devices, and then delete connection records to try to hide the origin of the poster, they said.
The actions are an attempt to divide Taiwan from within to intensify political conflicts, they said.
Investigators looking into the hacking cases said that Hong Kong has become an important base for launching cyberattacks against Taiwan, as major recent disinformation campaigns have been found to have originated in Hong Kong.
For example, online posts saying that officials had smuggled cigarettes during the president’s trip to Central America in April came from a hacked router in a motel in Kaohsiung, the Cyber Security Investigation Office said.
Using an Internet protocol address in Hong Kong, a hacker logged into a Facebook account they created and took control of two accounts of Taiwanese on the Mobile01.com Web site, and used the three accounts to make posts showing altered cigarette purchase orders, it said.
Although the hacker deleted their connection records, authorities traced the posts on the three Taiwanese accounts to the router, prosecutors and judicial authorities said.
Regarding online rumors in April saying that Chinese missiles had breached Taiwan’s airspace, the Cyber Security Investigation Office said that those posts had also originated in Hong Kong.
A foreign actor had hacked into a router of an international shipping company in Taoyuan through a device in Hong Kong at UCloud Technology Co (優刻得), which offers colocation services for servers and network equipment, and logged into a Professional Technology Temple (PTT) bulletin board system account owned by a Taiwanese to post about the missiles, it said.
To prevent disinformation from affecting the elections, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is heading up an investigation team focused on major national disinformation cases, while other cases are to be handled by local district prosecutors’ offices, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said.
Dedicated chief prosecutors are to be assigned by local offices in the six special municipalities to handle the cases, it added.
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau urges people to delete unused social media accounts, update their IoT devices and use strong passwords.
People should carefully verify online information and avoid spreading it before confirming its authenticity, the bureau added.
CLOSURES: Several forest recreation areas have been closed as a precaution, while some ferry and flight services have been suspended or rescheduled A land warning for Tropical Storm Danas was issued last night at 8:30pm, as the storm’s outer bands began bringing heavy rain to southeastern regions, including Hualien and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島), according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 9:15pm, the storm was approximately 330km west-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, moving north-northeast at 10-20kph, the CWA reported. A sea warning had already been issued at 8:30am yesterday. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 83kph, with gusts of up to 108kph, according to the CWA. As of 9:30pm last night, Kaohsiung, Tainan,
POWERFUL DETERRENT: Precision fire and dispersed deployment of units would allow Taiwanese artillery to inflict heavy casualties in an invasion, a researcher said The nation’s military has boosted its self-defense capability with the establishment of a new company equipped with the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). The company, part of the army’s 58th Artillery Command, is Taiwan’s first HIMARS unit. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who presided over the formation ceremony in Taichung on Friday, called the unit a significant addition to the nation’s defensive strength, saying it would help deter adversaries from starting a war. The unit is made up of top-performing soldiers who received training in the US, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The HIMARS can be equipped with
UNILATERAL: The move from China’s aviation authority comes despite a previous 2015 agreement that any changes to flight paths would be done by consensus The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday slammed Beijing for arbitrarily opening the M503 flight route’s W121 connecting path, saying that such unilateral conduct disrespected the consensus between both sides and could destabilize the Taiwan Strait and the wider region. The condemnation came after the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) earlier yesterday announced it “has activated the W121 connecting path of the M503 flight route,” meaning that west-to-east flights are now permitted along the path. The newly activated west-to-east route is intended to “alleviate the pressure caused by the increase of flights,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted China’s Taiwan Affairs Office
STRONG WINDS: Without the Central Mountain Range as a shield, people should be ready for high-speed winds, CWA weather forecaster Liu Yu-chi said Danas was yesterday upgraded to a typhoon and could grow stronger as it moves closely along the nation’s west coastline, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Hsinchu and Chiayi cities, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Nantou, Chiayi, Penghu and Pingtung counties have canceled work and school today. Work and school in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Yilan, Taitung, Hualien, Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties would continue as usual, although offices and schools would be closed in Taoyuan’s Luju (蘆竹), Dayuan (大園), Guangyin (觀音) and Sinwu (新屋) districts. As of 5pm yesterday, the typhoon’s