Cyberattacks in island go on unabated

Taipei – Millions of people offline, banks knocked out and the world’s most advanced semiconductor industry paralysed – Taiwan’s doomsday scenario includes not just invading Chinese troops but also a wave of attacks against its cyber infrastructure.

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, and the island’s security planners run simulated worst-case scenarios constantly to prepare for the day Beijing decides to try and take over.

If China does invade, Taiwanese officials and cybersecurity experts say it will not limit its assaults to security forces and defence infrastructure, but effectively disconnect the island from the world.

Taiwan is facing a persistent threat from stealthy attackers who gain access to computer networks to “sit and wait within the victim’s infrastructure”, said Crystal Tu, a cybersecurity researcher at Taiwan’s Institute of National Defence and Security Research.

They can be highly active during a time of conflict, Tu said, such as a “cyber operation aimed at the disruption of critical infrastructure – including telecommunications, energy and finance sectors”.

Cyberattacks against Taiwan have ramped up dramatically in the year leading up to the presidential election tomorrow, which China has described as a choice between war and peace for the island’s 23 million people.

Taiwanese authorities have said government agencies face an estimated five million cyberattacks a day.

And the cybersecurity firm Fortinet reported an 80% increase in cyberattacks in the first half of 2023 – ranking Taiwan number one in Asia Pacific. “The cyber operation toward Taiwan never really stops,” said Tu.

Some tactics used against Taiwanese infrastructure have been identified as techniques used by Chinese state-sponsored groups.

Last year, Microsoft flagged the threat from a group named Flax Typhoon that operates out of China and targets Taiwan.

The US tech giant said Flax Typhoon “intends to perform espionage and maintain access” to various Taiwanese organisations for as long as possible.

Cyberattackers have not only targeted Taiwan’s government and defence organisations, but also hit its semiconductor industry. Taiwanese companies are crucial to the supply of chips, the lifeblood of the global economy.

Such is their importance that one former United States official said last year that the US would rather destroy this semiconductor infrastructure than let it fall to invading Chinese forces.

Last year, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which controls more than half of the world’s chip output, reported a data breach at one of its suppliers. –