A spate of cyberattacks originating from China could be preparations for an attempt to paralyze Taiwan’s key computer systems and public infrastructure to disrupt the inauguration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and vice president-elect William Lai (賴清德) on May 20, Ministry of National Defense officials and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said yesterday.
Wang told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in Taipei that he has learned China was behind a spate of malware attacks this week that aimed to disable the computer system at Taiwan’s two major oil suppliers — state-owned CPC Corp, Taiwan and privately owned Formosa Petrochemical Corp — as well as IC testing and packaging firm Powertech Technology and some financial companies.
He cautioned Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) and other ministry officials that the malicious attacks have been increasing in the past few weeks and that China would mount more coordinated attacks for a major escalation in the coming days to cause major disruptions or paralyze computer networks on May 20.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Communication, Electronics and Information Tsao Chin-ping (曹進平) said that cyberattacks targeting the Web sites of government agencies or state-run companies could intensify in the buildup to the inauguration.
“The Chinese cyberarmy’s intrusion channels into these computer systems came through mobile storage devices and social media platforms. Our military units will bolster cybersecurity measures to defend against these types of hacking,” Tsao said.
National Security Bureau officials yesterday identified the sources of the cyberattacks as China and Russia.
These were likely coordinated cyberattacks and test runs by China to sabotage the presidential inauguration, they said.
China might be planning to paralyze Taiwan’s key government computer systems, impair its power supply and state utilities, and disable other major public infrastructure, the officials said.
An initial probe found that the hackers used Internet protocol addresses registered in Europe as springboards to implant backdoor programs and malware into servers at Taiwan’s health agencies, medical research centers and Centers for Disease Control offices to steal critical information and files, they said.
Wang also pointed to evidence indicating that Chinese cyberarmy units have targeted Taiwanese health agencies and medical research institutes working on a COVID-19 vaccine, adding that they have also targeted similar entities in the US.
Phase 2 clinical trial results of the Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp’s COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday were published on the Web site of The Lancet: Respiratory Medicine, in an early preview before publication. The study paves the way for other nations to issue emergency use authorizations or produce the Medigen vaccine, given The Lancet’s credibility as a highly respected medical journal with a rigorous peer-review process, Medigen’s international affairs director Lien Chia-en (連加恩) said. Lien said that the study is important as it proposes methods for converting international units for efficacy comparisons. The methods have been used for correlating the efficacy of hepatitis B
LIABILITIES MULLED: New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi said Taipei would find out if the firm was legally registered, the guide was licensed and the weather was assessed The assets of Tian Da Local Nature Co are to be frozen after at least four people died after falling into the Beishi River (北勢溪) on an outing the company had organized on Saturday, the Taipei City Government said yesterday. Six people — two adults and four children — were washed away by a flash flood on the river in New Taipei City’s Hubaotan (虎豹潭) area. They were participating in a Nature Joy Camp outdoor activity with a group of 16 adults and 15 children led by a guide surnamed Su (蘇). As of 4:30pm yesterday, four of the missing had been
THREATS: Dismissing Beijing’s assertion that its military exercises only target Taiwanese separatists, Chiu Kuo-cheng said war has no regard for political affiliation In case Taiwan is attacked, the military will defend the nation and not stand by like “plastic toys,” Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said yesterday at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. Chiu was responding to Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) asking him to clarify his remark last week that “the military holds to the principle that we will not fire the first shot.” Wang asked Chiu whether he meant what he said literally or that Taiwan would not start a war. “The Republic of China will not start a war,” Chiu
Taiwanese worked more hours than people in all but three other countries in the world last year, Ministry of Labor data showed. Singapore placed first in average hours worked among the 40 economies surveyed, with an average of 2,288 hours per worker last year, the data showed. The city-state was followed by Colombia with 2,172 hours — based on 2019 data — and Mexico with 2,124 hours, it showed. Taiwan came in fourth, with 2,021 hours, it showed. South Korean workers clocked the third-most hours in Asia, with 1,908 hours, followed by Japan with 1,598 hours, it showed. However, compared with 2019, the survey found
RSS