JAKARTA - Cyber attacks linked to China against Taiwan's vital infrastructure jumped sharply throughout 2025, averaging 2.63 million attacks per day. The figure is up 6% from the previous year, according to Taiwan's National Security Bureau (NSB), which assessed that some of the attacks were synchronized with Chinese military exercises as part of a hybrid war strategy.
In a report released on Sunday, January 4, NSB said the escalation of cyber attacks occurred as Beijing's military and political pressure on the democratically ruled island increased. Taiwan accuses China of combining various instruments of pressure - from daily military patrols around the island, disinformation campaigns, to cyber hacking - to undermine Taiwan's government stability and social functions.
NSB noted that the average daily attack in 2025 jumped 113% compared to 2023, the first year the agency published official cyber attack data. Crucial sectors such as energy, emergency services, and hospitals are targets with the most significant annual increase.
"This trend shows China's deliberate attempt to comprehensively compromise Taiwan's critical infrastructure and disrupt, even paralyze, government and community functions," the report said.
According to NSB, what is called the "cyber army" of China often sets the time of the attack in conjunction with military and political pressure. Throughout 2025, China launched 40 joint combat readiness patrols by deploying aircraft and warships close to Taiwan, and 23 of them recorded an escalation of cyber attacks. The pattern is consistent: physical pressure in the air and sea, digital pressure on the network.
Hacking activity also increased at sensitive political moments, including when Taiwan President Lai Ching-te delivered a speech marking the one-year anniversary of his term in May, as well as when Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim spoke at a meeting with members of parliament in the European Parliament in November. NSB assessed that the move reflected China's strategy of using hybrid threats both in peaceful conditions and in conflict scenarios.
The Chinese government did not respond to the report and routinely denies involvement in hacking. Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and does not rule out the use of force to unite the island. On the other hand, Taipei rejects the sovereignty claim and insists that Taiwan's future can only be determined by its people.
The report also said the types of attacks carried out included distributed denial-of-service or DDoS to disrupt daily activities, as well as man-in-the-middle attacks aimed at stealing data and infiltrating telecommunications networks. The science park area, which is the center of Taiwan's semiconductor industry, including the one that houses the chip giant TSMC, was also targeted, with indications of attempts to steal advanced technology.
NSB assesses that the series of attacks aims to support China's technological independence and economic development ambitions, as well as to prevent Beijing from being in an unfavorable position in the technological competition with the United States. In the modern conflict map, chips are strategic commodities - and keyboards are now as sharp as weapons.
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