Cyberattacks have forced the temporary closure of a Ministry of the Interior Web site hosting a vote for best design of a new national identification card, the ministry said yesterday.
The ministry said it suspected anti-independence advocates were behind the hack, as two designs leading in the poll prior to the cyberattack had sparked heated debate between the pro-Taiwan independence and pro-unification camps.
The leading design is titled “Taiwanese National Identity Card — Local Residents of the Island,” while the other is third-placed “Sun Yat-sen Version of the Republic of China National Identity Card.”
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
The use of the name “Taiwan” in the leading design, coupled with the ministry’s refusal to force changes — citing respect for the designer — caused continuous cyberattacks over the past days, the poll’s manager said.
Prior to the shutdown, the site was defaced with a message to stop “separatist movements” and redirected to a Web site for China’s “Anti-Secession” Law, the manager said.
The ministry said it has temporarily shut down the voting site and would announce when it will be reopened, adding that it has conveyed requests to contractors for quick repairs.
Netizens should engage in rational debate and refrain from actions that would harm others, or seek to disseminate the personal information of others, the ministry said.
The leading design has been temporarily removed and would be inaccessible until it is reuploaded as soon as the Web site’s information security has been reinforced, it said.
The event aims to produce a creative, more aesthetic design for the card and its information, the ministry said.
The design of the national identification card should convey its status as a document legally representing the nation, the ministry said.
The actual content that would go on the card is beyond the purview of the vote, it added.
The redesign event has two stages, with the winner from the online poll to be included in the second phase, along with seven other designs, the ministry said.
A nine-person panel of designers and representatives from the interior ministry and the Ministry of Culture would then select two designs for creative and design awards from those eight candidates, it said.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit