Cyber Attacks From China Against Taiwanese Government Reaches An Average Of 2.4 Million Per Day By 2024

JAKARTA - Cyberattacks against Taiwan's government department doubled in 2024 compared to the previous year, with an average of 2.4 million attacks per day. According to a Taiwan National Security Bureau report, most of these attacks were launched by Chinese cyber forces.

Taiwan has long complained about what it calls China's "grey zone abuse", from daily military exercises to cyberattacks. This activity was carried out in conjunction with increasing Beijing's military and political pressure to force the self-governing island to accept China's claim of sovereignty.

Taiwan's Government Service Network (GSN) received an average of 2.4 million attacks per day last year, up double compared to the daily average of 1.2 million in 2023, according to a report released by the National Security Bureau on Sunday, January 5.

The report revealed that most of the attacks were directed at the telecommunications, transportation and defense sectors, which were considered the main targets.

"Although many attacks have been detected and blocked, this increase in numbers shows how serious hacking activity is by China," the report said.

China routinely denies involvement in cyberattacks, but is often accused by foreign governments, including the United States. Last week, the US accused Chinese hackers of stealing documents from the US Treasury Department.

Taiwan's report also revealed that several attacks were carried out to coincide with Chinese military exercises around the island. Types of attacks such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) are designed to disrupt access to websites of Taiwanese transportation and finance agencies.

According to reports, this move aims to "enhancing the effects of military harassment and intimidation". China held two major exercises around Taiwan last year, namely the Joint Sword 2024A in May and the Joint Sword 2024B in October.

In addition, the report revealed that Taiwanese civil servants' emails were also targeted, with attacks such as social engineering being used to steal classified information.

Other techniques used by Chinese cyber forces include advanced persistent threats and backdoor software to try to infiltrate and damage Taiwan's important infrastructure, such as highways and ports.

"This kind of effort aims to disrupt Taiwan's government operations and gain profits in politics, military, technology and the economy," the report said.