The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office on Monday charged a computer engineer with obstruction of computer use over the crash of the YouBike system last year, alleging he installed malware into the system.
The engineer, surnamed Liao (廖), maintains his innocence and is awaiting trial.
The system crash on Aug. 31 last year caused YouBike docking stations to go offline in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung and Changhua — affecting 22,000 bicycles — and resulted in losses of more than NT$20 million (US$662,910), the indictment said.
Photo: Yang Cheng-chun, Taipei Times
The service resumed on Sept. 2 after emergency repairs were carried out.
A multi-agency investigation led by Taichung district prosecutor Huang Yuan-heng (黃元亨) concluded that Liao, a 30-year-old employee of YouBike contractor Microprogram Co, was responsible for sabotaging the system, following a spat with his supervisor at work during which he made threats.
Liao was accused of coding a malware program identified as list_card_hash_3 that he inserted into YouBike Co servers during a software update in Chuanghua for the programs governing the mechanisms that affix bicycles to their docking stations, the indictment said.
The malware activated at 12:55am and disrupted services across the nation, it said.
After reviewing the incident, investigators first ruled out pre-existing software flaws as the cause of the crash, then discovered the malware, and excluded the possibility that former employees could have gained access to the system, the indictment said.
As a result, the circle of suspects was narrowed to three software engineers, but two were later ruled out because one lacked the knowledge or skills to execute the attack, and the other senior-ranking engineer had worked hard to contain the damage during the crisis, it said.
Liao allegedly created list_card_hash_3 on a previous occasion out of a desire to slack off at work, the indictment said.
Liao showed little initiative in dealing with the crash and his browser history indicated he tried to find ways to remove software that had been inserted in a system without leaving a trace, it added.
A study published by online booking platform Expedia revealed searches for travel to Taipei have ballooned 2,786 percent following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions due to the city being a “designation dupe” for Seoul. The TikTok trend for duping — referring to substituting a designation for a more inexpensive alternative — helped propel interest in Taipei, it said in a consumer survey titled “Unpack ‘24,” which was conducted from September to October in 14 countries. Location dupes are “every bit as delightful as the tried-and-true places travelers love,” Expedia trend tracker Melanie Fish said of the year’s popular alternatives, which
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
CHINA illness surge: Of 88 travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau with respiratory symptoms who were encouraged to get tested upon arrival, 70.6% had the flu Two hundred and sixty people with COVID-19 were hospitalized and 31 deaths related to the virus were reported last week — the highest numbers in four weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that cases are expected to peak next month. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said that of the 260 people hospitalized last week with moderate to severe COVID-19, 98 percent had not received the Omicron XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine. Among the people hospitalized this year, 78 percent were aged 65 or older, while most of the those who were hospitalized or died have or had
A small-scale protest that called on the government to cancel its plan to welcome Indian migrant workers in a bid to tackle Taiwan’s labor shortage was held in Taipei yesterday. During the protest, comprised of a few dozen people staged in front of the Presidential Office on Ketagalan Boulevard, the protest’s chief initiator, a woman identified only as “Yuna” said they wanted the central government to reconsider allowing migrant workers from India to enter Taiwan. Most people in Taiwan had little knowledge about the potential plan to allow in Indian migrant workers until a report in the media last month, she
RSS