Rise In Cyberattacks As Taiwan Government Faces Over 5 Million Cyberattacks Daily

Government agencies in Taiwan have been facing frequent cyber attacks. The island faces multiple threats daily, in the form of cyberattacks and probes. With attacks coming in the millions the approximated number of probes coming in daily are around five million. The island has been facing increases in cyber warfare. 

The self-ruled island believes that a good percentage of these attacks come from nearby China. Based on an official report, a warning was issued concerning the increasing levels of cyber warfare. Reports suggest that the majority of the attacks come mostly from the Chinese. Several reports from different Taiwanese officials confirm that the cyberattacks have been in the millions over the recent months. 

The director of the security department, Hung-Wei reported to the island’s parliament. In his statement, he mentions that the Taiwan government encounters millions of scans daily.

The number of cyber threats that the Taiwanese government faces is disconcerting. Cyber security, terms scans as the attempt, of an external source, to discover all sorts weaknesses within the server. With nearly five million scans and probes coming in daily, the situation raises concern. The continuous and ever-increasing cyber attacks are quite disturbing.

The situation has caused lawmakers and government officials, in general, to be on high alert. In a report, Chien said, that the government was taking measures to strengthen their defense. Other measures were also being implemented to for effective and thorough data collection and analysis. This are all in attempt to stop and avert any attacks at their initial stages.

This essentially means that security will be heightened and multiple defensive measures will be put in place. There will also be increased data analysis, this will help detect discrepancies and loopholes early enough to try and avert any issues that may arise.

In 2016, Ing-wen was elected as President of Taiwan. He has stated his beliefs concerning the island being an independent nation and this view has not been embraced or taken kindly by China, Beijing being in particular.  

Taiwan has accused China of ramped up cyberattacks since the elections. This is mostly thought to have been caused by Beijing’s view that Taiwan is part of its territory. Threats and vows of taking over Taiwan, if need be, add to the conflict and tension within the region. 

The increased tension is what is thought to be the cause of the increased aggression. The attacks have been what the government officials have termed as “vigorously enhancing”. Taiwan believes that cyber warfare is a part of a strategic attack to bring the island to its knees. 

Based on official reports, the attacks are not recent. The security and defense departments began noticing anomalies from 2019, which was just 3 years after the island’s elections. Between 2019 and 2021, the center for security and protection have detected and handled approximately 1.4 billion irregularities. They have done their best to set up preventative measures that would essentially keep out potential hackers. 

The Taiwan police departments launched investigations. This followed reports of abnormal activities on specific messaging apps. A particular messaging app reported abnormal account activities to the authorities which is believed to have probed the investigations in the first place.

According to reports by the local media, the accounts with discrepancies were said to belong to high-ranking government officials, working in different departments and branches.

There was also an incident that caused quite a stir. The Taiwanese authorities issued reports of Chinese hackers infiltrating several government agencies. Approximately ten different agencies were affected. The hackers were said to have had access to nearly 6000 email accounts. This was an attempt to steal data. By the time the report was issued, the extent of damage wasn’t very clear but the report was creating alertness among the Taiwanese security departments.

On top of increased cyber attacks, there have also been increased military drills around the island. China has breached Taiwan’s air defense zone more than once and has constantly shown increased frequency.

These constant signs of aggression and provocation add cause to believe that China is the biggest cyber attacker of the Taiwan government agencies.