The Ministry of Foreign Affairs today said it was targeted by Chinese hackers, but no information was stolen, after several news reports said that the US charged Chinese hackers for targeting foreign government agencies including the ministry.
The ministry said it has always been a target for Chinese cyberattack due to its sensitive nature, adding that it had been made aware of the hacking attempts.
The ministry said that it has launched a thorough investigation and determined none of the attempts to hack into the system were successful.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) hacking activity is despised by the international community and is sanctioned by the US, it said, adding that it would continue to work with like-minded countries to resist Internet hacking from the authoritarian country and strengthen its information safety collaboration mechanism.
Chinese hackers have relentlessly attacked government agencies, basic infrastructure and financial institutions in democratic countries worldwide, it said.
The ministry said it has established an information security mechanism and a control center to monitor the situation around the clock.
The ministry’s response came after Washington yesterday announced indictments against a slew of alleged Chinese hackers, sanctioning a Chinese tech company and offering a US$10 million bounty over what the US called a years-long spy campaign that stole information from people around the world.
US federal officials accused 10 people of collaborating to steal data from their targets. Eight of the suspects worked for the company I-Soon (安洵信息) and two worked for the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, they said.
An indictment yesterday described I-Soon as "a key player in the PRC's hacker-for-hire ecosystem."
Hackers’ targets included the US Defense Intelligence Agency, the US Department of Commerce, the foreign ministries of Taiwan, South Korea, India and Indonesia, news organizations critical of China, and the New York State Assembly, they said.
Hackers also targeted a variety of religious figures and groups, including an unidentified "large religious organization in the United States," according to the indictment and a separate statement issued by the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
I-Soon charged Chinese intelligence agencies about US$10,000 to US$75,000 for each e-mail inbox it hacked, with additional payments for analyzing them, the indictment says.
The Chinese embassy in Washington said it opposes the sanctions and "long-arm jurisdiction" against Chinese entities and individuals.
"China will take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and citizens," it said in a statement.
Also yesterday, US Treasury said it was sanctioning a Shanghai-based company and its owner over the alleged theft and sale of data from "highly sensitive US critical infrastructure networks."
US Treasury in a statement said that it was sanctioning the Shanghai Heiying Information Technology Co (上海黑鷹信息技術公司) and its founder, Zhou Shuai (周帥), for "selling illegally exfiltrated data and access to compromised computer networks."
At least some of the data was later acquired by a previously sanctioned Chinese hacker named Yin Kecheng (尹克成), who was implicated in the theft of data from US Treasury, it said.
Zhou and Yin were also indicted.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
RSS