The National Police Administration (NPA) yesterday denied reports that its computer system had been attacked by Chinese hackers and classified information stolen.
"Access to our classified information requires several usernames and passwords. It has not been hacked or stolen by anybody," said Yang Chi-lin (楊麒麟), director of the NPA's Information Technology Department.
Yang said that all the classified information was stored in a closed computer network that could not be accessed through the Internet.
The classified information held on the NPA's computers includes documents and records such as vehicle registration information, information on vehicle owners and criminal records, Yang said. The only way to access the system and steal information is to do so from a terminal inside the NPA.
Two Chinese-language news-papers reported yesterday that several unidentified Chinese hackers from Hubei Province began attacking the NPA's computer network and database in April.
Yang denied that classified information had been accessed.
"I can assure you that our national security was not breached and privacy was not invaded," he said.
According to the reports, special agents from the Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Investigation spent three months identifying and locating the hackers and discovered that they were Chinese government officials.
The NPA hired at least three local software companies to help rebuild the firewalls protecting its systems, the reports said.
However, the Bureau of Investigation's Public Relations Department denied the reports.
"We have never heard of such a thing and have never investigated or tried to locate any Chinese hackers. In addition, if somebody hacks government computer systems and breaches national security, the police will also investigate," it said in a press release.
In response to questions about the "Blaster" virus that has infected more than 120,000 computers worldwide, Yang said that the NPA's computer system was protected by the "McAfee 4286" anti-virus program.
"Protecting our system from being attacked by hackers or computer viruses has always been our priority. And I can proudly say that my co-workers have performed well," Yang said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RSS