A recent report has revealed that cyberattacks originating from China targeting Taiwanese government agencies have surged to an alarming 2.4 million incidents per day.
On Monday, Liberty Times reported that Taiwan’s National Security Bureau (NSB) shared this alarming statistic in its latest report, China’s Cyber Hacking Methods in 2024, released the previous day. The report highlights a dramatic increase in the frequency of cyberattacks, with the daily average of Chinese-originated internet attacks on Taiwanese government networks doubling from 1.2 million in 2023 to 2.4 million in 2024.
While over 80% of these cyberattacks target Taiwanese government agencies, the NSB noted a troubling rise in attempts to infiltrate critical sectors like telecommunications, transportation, and defense supply chains.
The NSB emphasized that China’s cyberattacks are often synchronized with military drills near Taiwan. These attacks include Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) assaults aimed at disrupting vital infrastructure, such as transportation and financial systems, and exploiting vulnerabilities in Internet of Things (IoT) devices within Taiwan.
The Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), a think tank affiliated with Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, has drawn parallels between the increase in cyberattacks and the growing number of Chinese military aircraft incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone. Analysts suggest that these persistent cyber intrusions are part of a broader strategy aimed at desensitizing Taiwanese authorities, which could potentially delay their response during a more significant military offensive.
A spokesperson for the Taiwanese government emphasized that Taiwan is actively defending against China’s cyber threats through joint defense mechanisms in information and communication security. The official also urged Taiwanese citizens to stay vigilant about their personal information security as part of the broader national effort to fend off cyber intrusions.
In a related development, the NSB warned about the dramatic rise in suspicious accounts on TikTok, the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform. The number of abnormal accounts has skyrocketed from 255 in 2023 to 4,371 in 2024.
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