Tue, Jul 13, 2021 page2

• Agencies hit by 525 cybersecurity threats last year

  • By Lu Yi-hsuan and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  Government agencies last year reported 525 cybersecurity threats, nine of which were relatively severe, a report released by the Executive Yuan’s Department of Cyber Security showed.

  Information security threats are classified into four severity levels, with level 1 indicating the least serious threat and level 4 the most serious.

  Last year, there were 451 level 1 attacks and 65 level 2 attacks on government agencies, department data showed.

  Nine level 3 attacks were also recorded, but nothing merited a level 4 classification.

  The main types of threats were unauthorized access, Web page attacks, equipment issues and denial of service attacks, the department said.

  Unauthorized access was the most common type, comprising 68.8 percent of all threats, it said, adding that the primary causes were vulnerabilities in third-party products, failure of hosts to automatically install updates and remote connection management issues.

  Other cases involved ransomware attacks, malware attacks on security systems, latent malware on internal agency networks and systems built by contractors becoming a springboard for infiltration, the department added.

  Web page attacks, or the improper control of permissions, file format restrictions and third-party updates targeted by hackers, comprised 6.7 percent of all reported threats, it said.

  Threats were nearly evenly split between the central and local governments, with 49 percent of reports coming from federal agencies and 51 percent originating from local agencies, it added.

  In its report, which was released late last month, the department recommended how to counter five categories of threats: personal information leaks, ransomware denial of service attacks, malware seeded due to non-updated firmware, persistent attacks designed to steal sensitive data and external supply chain hacks.

  For example, in one of the level 3 threats, hackers extracted the login information of a firm handling equipment maintenance for a government agency, the report said.

  They were then able to access other equipment within the agency and use ransomware to encrypt data, making normal operation impossible until the hackers released the system, it said.

  Ransomware attacks have become a regular occurrence, the report said, adding that response measures hinge on shortening the recovery time.

  Agencies should also be sure to patch vulnerabilities and update firmware, implement access controls on internal networks, create off-site backups and conduct regular response drills, it added.

  In addition, government agencies should not use equipment or software created in China, the report said.
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