The National Audit Office in its latest report on the central government’s fiscal accounts for last year called out four ministries for failing to adequately safeguard critical infrastructure.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, and the Financial Supervisory Commission failed to fulfill their responsibilities in this regard, the office said in its report.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs is required to protect critical infrastructure for the subdomains of electricity, petroleum, natural gas, water supply, maritime transportation, software parks and industrial zones, the report said.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
In addition, the ministry is responsible for inventorying key assets and facilities under its jurisdiction, compiling lists of potential critical infrastructure and ensuring facility operators complete self-assessment surveys regarding critical infrastructure, it said.
After compiling the completed surveys, the authorities must complete a preliminary assessment and submit it to the Homeland Security Office for further review and approval, the report said.
However, the ministry’s resilience plans for the four subdomains of electricity, petroleum, natural gas and water supply lack appropriate risk assessments and clearly prioritized security protection measures, it added.
Furthermore, during last year’s critical infrastructure review process, some subdomains failed to compile lists of potential critical infrastructure, the report said.
Instead, facility providers independently determined whether infrastructure met criteria, raising concerns that some critical infrastructure was overlooked, it said.
The office said it formally requested the Ministry of Economic Affairs to make improvements.
The report also said that the Ministry of Health and Welfare had not done enough to protect the infrastructure under its jurisdiction.
The ministry has not set up a coordination team with other related agencies or created an adequate security plan, which could weaken the safety of critical systems like hospitals and emergency services, the report said.
The report emphasized that a recent wave of ransomware attacks on hospitals poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s critical infrastructure.
To ensure that medical services remain uninterrupted during emergencies, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has been formally requested to cooperate with the Homeland Security Office’s policy planning, the National Audit Office said.
This includes strengthening emergency preparedness in healthcare sectors through resource stockpiling, regular drills and cross-sector collaboration, it said.
The report had two main criticisms for the Ministry of Transportation and Communications:
First, the ministry has yet to adequately facilitate coordination between agencies from transportation sector subdomains or establish mechanisms for resource and information sharing, the report said.
Second, security protection plans for the transportation sector and several of its subdomains took six years to complete, or in some cases, have yet to be developed, it said, calling on the ministry to improve its security plans.
The report also said that while the Financial Supervisory Commission has cooperated with the Homeland Security Office to strengthen overall protection of the critical infrastructure under its jurisdiction, it has not fully carried out its duties as the coordinating agency for the financial sector.
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole