China has launched a cyber war on Taiwan – Taipei on alert

China has launched a cyber war on Taiwan, which has put Taipei on high alert, especially in the wake of heightened tensions following a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, media reported.

In an effort to become resilient amid Chinese aggression, Taiwan has increased its defense spending for next year, Nikkei Asia reported. However, in the modern world, there are other methodologies that China seeks to exploit, including cyber warfare against Taiwan.

Since Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, the island nation’s government and companies have been targets of such attacks. Customers at 7-Eleven stores saw messages that read “Warmonger Pelosi, get out of Taiwan.” And online billboards were confiscated across Taiwan — one calling her an “old witch” whose visit is a “serious challenge to the homeland’s sovereignty,” Nikkei Asia reported.

loading…

Even the websites of the presidential office and the ministries of foreign affairs and defense were not spared by the Chinese. They were shut down for a while by hackers. What happened has instilled worry and concerns in Taiwan.

Taiwan is now thinking hard about whether its basic infrastructure and essential services have strong enough firewalls and the ability to withstand determined cyber attacks. The cyber attack is an added aggression amid China’s larger military exercises that have encircled the island republic.

“If power plants, hospitals and transportation are breached, the damage will be significant,” Wang Ming-hung, assistant professor of computer studies at National Chung Cheng University, told Nikkei Asia.

“Everyone is exposed to risks of cyberattacks,” he said, “from the leakage of sensitive data to the suspension of online services and disinformation or disinformation to critical infrastructure.”

See also  P.O.E.S. - Health and Safety at Work (Violence and Intimidation Phenomena in ASSY)

Additionally, Kuo Szu-Wei, a cybersecurity analyst at the Taipei-based Institute for Information Industry (III), shares Wang’s concern when he notes that “all the basic infrastructure,” Kuo told the Nikkei, “hospitals, water stations and electricity as well as leading companies could be targets.

“In the era of digital transformation, connecting devices and systems to the internet is almost inevitable. This leads to regular software and firmware updates, which create vulnerabilities for attacks.”

Taiwan is not sitting idly by as China continues to flex its muscles. Taiwan’s government has stepped up efforts to combat cyber attacks. President Tsai Ing-wen has repeatedly stated that “cyber security is national security.”

Another key area where Taiwan has begun to lay the groundwork for a cybersecurity agency is in the newly formed Ministry of Digital Affairs, which is headed by hacker-turned-cabinet member Audrey Tang. The agency will initially hire 150 cyber security experts, a sharp increase from the 20 staff it had at a cabinet-linked cyber security centre.

Related Posts