Taiwan is to help Guatemala bolster its cybersecurity by establishing operations centers in the Central American nation and providing information security training, sources said on Sunday.
Guatemala, a diplomatic ally of Taiwan, is facing potential cybersecurity risks, after some major local banks commissioned the construction of their computer systems to China’s Huawei Technologies Co, which has been accused of providing backdoors for Chinese state-sponsored hackers to penetrate systems it has built, experts said.
US Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute professor Robert Evan Ellis, who specializes in Latin American studies, said in a recent interview with the Spanish-language news site Republica that Huawei is active in Guatemala, especially in telecom services and information technology.
Photo: Reuters
He said he was worried about a computer system Huawei installed for Banrural, one of Guatemala’s major banks.
The Guatemalan government might not be able to effectively safeguard the cybersecurity of government agencies and private companies, as it has neither the regulations nor the capabilities to defend against cyberattacks, making its communications infrastructure an easy target for hackers, Ellis said.
In Taipei, an official familiar with foreign affairs said that Huawei’s Central American headquarters is in Guatemala.
Given that Huawei’s 5G networks have been installed throughout Guatemala, as well as the company’s other communications infrastructure, Taiwan would help its ally strengthen its self-defense by establishing cybersecurity operations centers in the country and training cybersecurity talent, they said.
“Clean, reliable networks are the foundation for digital governance, and cybersecurity talent and capabilities are indispensable,” the official said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been preparing a group of officials, technical personnel and cybersecurity experts to visit Taiwan’s South and Central American allies to examine their information systems, they said.
Guatemala would be one of the delegation’s destinations, the official said, adding that Taiwan expects to build reliable networks jointly with its allies to defend against cybersecurity risks posed by Huawei’s systems.
The Republic of China (ROC) established diplomatic relations with the Republic of Guatemala in 1934. The country is one of Taiwan’s two diplomatic allies in Central America, along with Belize. They are among the 12 countries that have official diplomatic relations with the ROC.
Additional reporting by CNA
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
RSS