Chinese cyberattacks on Taiwan government averaged 2.4 mln a day in 2024, report says

Taiwan has complained about what it sees as China's "grey-zone harassment" - from daily military drills and balloons near the island to cyberattacks.

By REUTERS JANUARY 6, 2025 07:22 Updated: JANUARY 6, 2025 07:24

Projection of cyber code on hooded man (llustrative) (photo credit: REUTERS/KACPER PEMPEL/ILLUSTRATION TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Cyberattacks on Taiwan government departments doubled in 2024 from the previous year to an average of 2.4 million attacks a day, the island's National Security Bureau said, adding most of them were launched by Chinese cyber forces.

Taiwan has in recent years complained about what it sees as China's "grey-zone harassment" - from daily military drills and balloons near the island to cyberattacks - at a time when Beijing ramps up military and political pressure to force the democratically governed island to accept its sovereignty claim.

Taiwan's Government Service Network, or GSN, received a daily average of 2.4 million attacks last year, double the daily average of 1.2 million in 2023, according to a report by the National Security Bureau on Sunday.

The bureau offered rare details of the attacks, attributing most to China's cyber forces, with telecommunications, transportations and defense among the top targets.

"Although many of those attacks have been effectively detected and blocked, the growing numbers of attacks pinpoint the increasingly severe nature of China's hacking activities," the report said.

A 3D printed model of man working on a computer are seen in front of displayed binary code and words ''Cyber atack'' in this illustration taken, July 5, 2021. (credit: REUTERS/DADO RUVIC/ILLUSTRATION)

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment.

China routinely denies being involved in hacking attacks but is frequently accused by foreign governments, especially the United States which last week said Chinese hackers stole documents from the U.S. Treasury Department.

The Taiwanese report said China launched some of the attacks to coincide with Chinese military drills around the island, including distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks designed to disrupt access to web pages of Taiwan's transportation and financial institutions.

The move, the report said, was meant to "intensify the harassment effect and military intimidation."

Beijing staged two rounds of major exercises around Taiwan last year to pressure Taipei, one in May and one in October, dubbed Joint Sword - 2024A and B respectively.

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China's cyber forces' techniques

China also targeted Taiwanese civil servants' emails and launched attacks including social engineering in attempts to steal confidential information, the report said.

The report said China's cyber forces employed techniques including advanced persistent threats and backdoor software to try to infiltrate and compromise Taiwan's key infrastructure including highways and ports.

"Such efforts attempt to disrupt Taiwan's government operations, as well as gain advantages in the fields of politics, military, technology, and economy," the report said.