Taiwan faces surge in cyberattacks, mostly from China
Jan 05, 2025
Taipei [Taiwan], January 5 : Taiwan's National Security Bureau (NSB) has reported a major surge increase in cyberattacks targeting the country in 2024, mostly from China.
According to the NSB report, Taiwan's government networks faced an average of 2.4 million cyberattacks per day in 2024. This represents a staggering increase of over 100 per cent compared to the 1.2 million daily average in 2023.
The report also noted that over 80 per cent of these cyberattacks specifically targeted government agencies.
According to the report, Chinese cyber forces employed "Living off-the-land" techniques to evade detection and carried out social engineering attacks on public officials' email accounts to steal sensitive information.
Taiwan is facing an unprecedented wave of cyberattacks from China, targeting critical infrastructure, transportation systems, and personal data of Taiwanese citizens.
According to a recent report, these attacks involve advanced persistent threats (APTs) , phishing emails, and Trojan viruses, which targeted critical infrastructure and disrupted transportation systems. Personal data of Taiwanese citizens was also stolen and sold on the dark web and hacker forums.
The report revealed that China has collaborated with private hacker organizations to steal intellectual property from global high-tech startups for economic gain. Furthermore, the personal data of Taiwanese citizens has been stolen and sold on the dark web and hacker forums.
In response, Taiwan has activated a coordinated cybersecurity defence mechanism to counter Chinese cyberattacks. This includes leveraging a wide range of intelligence sources to enhance threat detection capabilities. Relevant departments are alerted in real-time for immediate action, the NSB said.
The NSB urged the public to prioritize cybersecurity and remain vigilant against the growing risks posed by Chinese cyberattacks.
