A Chinese national has been identified as the person who sent a series of bomb threats to Taiwanese officials over the past few months, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said yesterday.
Although the person used a virtual private network (VPN) to mask their online trail, the High-tech Crime Center identified an IP address in Xian in China’s Shaanxi Province, center chief Rufus Lin (林建隆) said.
“The perpetrator at various times used VPN servers in Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the US and China to make it appear as though their IP address was in those countries,” Lin said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Since October last year, the perpetrator has targeted ministries, elected representatives, transportation hubs and tourist sites in Taiwan with e-mailed bomb threats or threats of violence against the recipients, he said.
At least seven legislators from the Democratic Progressive Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) received the e-mails, he said.
“The perpetrator spoofed the identities of Taiwanese politicians, ministers or other prominent personalities in the ‘from’ field of the e-mails to boost the chances that they would be opened,” Lin said, adding that they mainly used Gmail and Outlook accounts.
“Our investigators traced the perpetrator’s digital footprint through analysis of their e-mail usage, social media accounts and browsing history,” he said.
“We compared VPN usage, and recurrent word and sentence patterns to conclude with high certainty that the e-mailed threats were all from the same person,” he added.
This was criminal action aimed at instilling fear and anxiety in society, Lin said, adding that the bureau has contacted Chinese authorities to help with the case according to the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement (兩岸共同打擊犯罪及司法互助協議).
Bureau officials said that bomb squads swiftly coordinated with police investigators and forensic experts to sweep areas that were targeted in the e-mails, while police patrols were enhanced.
“Up to now, we have not found find any explosives or suspicious items in these places,” the officials said. “We can assure the general safety of the people who were targeted, as well as the public.”
“There is no need to fear,” they said.
Separately, Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) told lawmakers that Taiwan is a democratic country with rule of law, and it would not permit threats of harm against its elected officials.
“Police agencies have boosted security work to protect legislators and ensure their personal safety, including in the legislature and their offices,” he said at the legislature in Taipei.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
RSS