The military held its first-ever anti-hacker drill on Wednesday and Thursday, Ministry of National Defense (MND) officials said yesterday.
The drill was part of the annual Han Kuang Military Exercise.
"We need constant protection for confidential information stored on computers" Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) said. "Our tactics can only be fully understood and carried out when confidential information is secure."
The anti-hacker drill was kept secret and information relating to it was not revealed until the Military News Agency announced it yesterday.
According to the ministry, the Chinese military officially established an "Internet force" in 1999.
The Chinese group is responsible for hacking into computer systems and networks, manipulating, stealing or deleting classified information and installing fake orders and misleading information to confuse a potential enemy's leadership, the ministry said.
MND computers recently came under attack from an unidentified hacker, allegedly from China. The attacker hacked into a computer in the MND's spokesman's office and forwarded viruses to reporters through the office's e-mail list.
The ministry said that in the wake of attempts to hack into the MND's computer system, it had established its own Internet squad to prevent future hacking activities as well as to upgrade information security to counter potential threats from China.
MND officials said that including the drill as part of the annual Han Kuang Military Exercise was a way of raising awareness of the dangers of "careless leaks" of classified information via the Internet.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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