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.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2