The government is stepping up measures against Chinese cyberattacks across eight core industries, data archives and medical facility Web sites, ahead of the May 20 presidential inauguration, the Executive Yuan said yesterday.
The Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday warned that the attacks might increase in frequency and intensity as the inauguration draws closer.
Such attacks were not out of the ordinary, Executive Yuan spokesperson Kolas Yotaka said yesterday.
The Executive Yuan has set up task forces to monitor aberrant Internet behavior on important holidays, special events such as the inauguration ceremony, the tax season, consecutive holidays and elections, Kolas said.
It recently established the usual May 20 inauguration task force and would be closely monitoring the energy, finance and transportation sectors, as well as keeping an eye on the Web sites of the central government, local governments and hospitals.
An unnamed senior Executive Yuan official said on condition of anonymity that while there was as yet no large-scale attack, the Cabinet is carefully monitoring Internet activity relating to the medical industry and data archives.
As the nation is considering possible international collaborations on information security with the Czech Republic and the US, Taiwan must be especially careful.
Cyberattacks against the Czech Brno University Hospital and the US Department of Health and Human Services were carried out in March, delaying the hospital’s COVID-19 screening for several patients and crashing the US agency’s Web site.
The Executive Yuan has asked the Ministry of Health and Welfare to step up information security for Internet access of medical facilities, offering the assistance of its National Center for Cyber Security Technology.
It dismissed reports that the e-mail account passwords of 70 Centers for Disease Control employees had been hacked, saying that it was a case dating back to 2017.
Separately, addressing questions about intensifying cyberattacks in the runup to May 20, National Security Bureau Director-General Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said that he did not think anything “special” would happen before the inauguration.
Chiu appears to have turned more conservative after being questioned by lawmakers about his answer to questions about the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Chiu had told lawmakers that intelligence suggested that Kim was ill, but remained in control.
Kim on Friday attended the opening ceremony for the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory the day after, breaking nearly three weeks of silence and absence.
Additional reporting by CNA
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS