Defense analysts yesterday said that the Chinese army’s top electronic warfare division, “Unit 61398” was behind Wednesday’s onslaught of messages posted by Chinese netizens targeting the Facebook fan page of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
The event was an attack on Tsai under directives given by Unit 61398 to test its cyberwarfare operations, when China’s strict Internet security was eased temporarily to allow access to Facebook on Wednesday, Chinese-language magazine Asia Pacific Defense editor-in-chief Cheng Chi-wen (鄭繼文) said.
Cheng said that during Wednesday’s test period, Chinese netizens could access Facebook through university networks with registered campus accounts, while the Internet firewall remained.
He said that Beijing’s main Internet security wall was the “Golden Shield Program,” which is administered by Unit 61398, based in Pudong, Shanghai.
Under the “Golden Shield Program,” the cyberarmy at Unit 61398 work around the clock to block “unfriendly” Web sites and social media sites, Cheng said.
Unit 61398, operated by the Peoples Liberation Army, has its own “hacker army” allegedly penetrating foreign network sites.
Normally Facebook cannot be accessed from China. However, Unit 61398 was testing the “Golden Shield Program” on Wednesday for a limited period giving access to Facebook via computer networks at a number of major Chinese universities.
It is alleged that coordinated efforts by Chinese netizens to blitz Tsai’s fan page, which amounted to 80,000 critical postings within a short period of time, were a result of this test.
Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) said that the police would not investigate the matter, as “it was not a cyberattack and did not involve a breach of Internet security.”
Some media outlets reported that the Facebook breach on Wednesday was due to a glitch in China’s “Great Firewall,” because of the high volume of traffic on many networks on Wednesday Nov. 11, is promoted as “Singles’ Day” in China when discounts are offered to shoppers.
Analysts said that China’s Internet security measures were overwhelmed by online traffic and netizens accessed Facebook and took advantage of the situation to blitz the DPP presidential candidate’s fan page.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese