A recent report from Taiwan's National Security Bureau says that cyberattacks against Taiwan doubled from 2023 to 2024, with most coming from China. The report says that hackers are using more sophisticated methods to access confidential information, including from government agencies.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Cyberattacks on Taiwanese institutions have doubled in the last year, with the vast majority
00:05of those attacks coming from China. That's according to a report by Taiwan's intelligence
00:11agency.
00:12The National Security Bureau says the average number of attacks on Taiwanese systems increased
00:17twofold from 1.2 million to 2.4 million attacks per day from 2023 to 2024. The agency has
00:26said they're able to fend off most of those attacks, but that the sheer volume of activity
00:31just demonstrates the increasingly severe nature of China's hacking activities. The
00:36report says that most attacks, around 80 percent, target government networks, and that there's
00:41been a steep rise in attacks on the telecommunications sector, financial institutions, transport
00:46networks and even defense supply chains, as well as private businesses. The report also
00:52said that hacking methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated, using a range of techniques
00:59from DOS attacks to phishing email campaigns and Trojan and backdoor viruses.
01:05So what is China's goal here? The government networks targeted by these attacks facilitate
01:10communication channels between different agencies and host online services where people pay
01:16taxes or store national health or labor insurance data. All of that could prove valuable information
01:23for China, which claims Taiwan and has said it will take it by any means necessary. Access
01:29to confidential information and networks could help China take Taiwan offline and disrupt
01:35infrastructure across the country should they ever decide to make a move. Taking down transport
01:40networks, financial services, energy grids would all make an attack or a blockade of
01:44Taiwan much easier and could even send Taiwan into a state of panic.
01:50But Taiwan won't take all of this lying down. Part of President Lai Ching-de's Civil Defense
01:56Committee plan is to improve Taiwan's national technological resilience and also to raise
02:02public awareness about the threats from China in regards to stealing Taiwan's most sensitive
02:08information. Justin Wu, Jon Su, and resares in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.