A report on global threats to the Internet said that Taipei, with approximately 186,000 bot-infected computers, accounted for 9 percent of all Web bot infections in the Asia-Pacific region.
Taiwan has almost 250,000 bot-infected computers, 12 percent of the total in the region at the end of last year, which constitutes the second-largest threat among countries in the region.
The Internet Security Threat Report, compiled by anti-virus company Symantec Corporation, advises computer users in Taiwan to regularly check their computers for viruses.
The report, released on April 14, provides a six-month update of Internet threats, alerting computer users to current and impending threats that the anti-virus company has observed.
Symantec said China ranked No. 1 in the report for bot-infected computers, accounting for 58 percent of the regional total and 13 percent of the global total.
Taipei ranked No. 7 among cities in the region in the 2007 report, accounting for 4 percent of the total at that time.
Nicholas Hsiao (蕭松瀛), Symantec’s chief technology adviser, said the rapid growth in bot-infected computers was the result of the high availability of optical-fiber networks nationwide.
Hsiao said computers compromised by hackers and computer viruses were referred to as “zombies” because their owners were unaware that they had been infected.
Owners of infected computers could lose their ID information, passwords and even financial data.Zombies are also used to perform malicious tasks such as sending spam e-mails.
Hisao said most attacks originated in the US, followed by China. But the Chinese attacks may have a greater impact on Taiwan than the US attacks because servers for cross-strait crimes are mostly placed in China to avoid police investigation. Since the people on the two sides share the same language, it is easier for Chinese hackers to send messages using familiar words as Taiwanese users are not alert to them.
“Safe online behavior and anti-virus software are equally important,” Hsiao said on Wednesday. “In addition to repairing computer vulnerabilities quickly and updating anti-virus codes, perhaps unplugging your Internet cable and turning off your computer when you do not use it is the best solution.”
In response to the report, Information Security magazine released a list of companies and organizations with bot-infected computers yesterday.
The list showed that some of the most famous Web sites in Taiwan had been hacked, ranging from online stores to high-tech companies and public universities. Watsons, the nation’s largest health and cosmetics retailer, and the Graduate Institute of Information Systems and Applications at National Tsing Hua University were on the list.
Shih Chia-hua (侍家驊), the magazine’s editor-in-chief, said on Wednesday that Taiwanese companies have ignored the seriousness of the problem, failing to ensure the safety of their own Web sites. Since the government has not yet established an agency responsible for this, the public is left to suffer Internet attacks.
Websense, a leading Web security company, said 77 percent of the world’s top 100 Web sites were bot-infected. Shih said that the percentage was close to this level or even higher in Taiwan, calling on both the government and the public to pay attention.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY YANG YA-MIN
Taiwan yesterday expelled four China Coast Guard vessels that entered Taiwan-controlled restricted waters off Lienchiang County (Matsu) shortly after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army announced the start of its “Joint Sword-2024B” drills around Taiwan. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a statement that it had detected two China Coast Guard ships west of Nangan Island (南竿) and another two north of Dongyin Island (東引) at 8am yesterday. After Chinese ships sailed into restricted waters off Matsu shortly afterward, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch deployed four patrol vessels to shadow and approach the vessels, it said. The incidents pushed up to 44 the number
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
Renovations on the B3 concourse of Taipei Main Station are to begin on Nov. 1, with travelers advised to use entrances near the Taiwan Railway or high-speed rail platforms or information counter to access the MRT’s Red Line. Construction is to be completed before the end of next year, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said last week. To reduce the impact on travelers, the NT$95 million (US$2.95 million) project is to be completed in four stages, it said. In the first stage, the hall leading to the Blue Line near the art exhibition area is to be closed from Nov. 1 to the end
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in
RSS