The National Security Council's (NSC) computer system was the target of an attempted e-mail attack Monday, according to a report in the Liberty Times, the Taipei Times' sister newspaper. According to sources, the attempted break-in was discovered yesterday afternoon, and a meeting was immediately called to discuss ways of beefing up network security.
According to the Liberty Times' source, the NSC's computers began acting up yesterday afternoon. An investigation revealed that e-mails containing a "trojan" program had been sent to NSC Deputy Secretary General Ko Cheng-heng's (
Ko is responsible for national security and cooperation with the US. As the e-mails contained the subject line "freedom" and "arms procurement," it is suspected that the hacker had a clear idea of his targets. Sources within the NSC said that such subject lines were intended to dupe the recipients into opening the e-mails and activating the trojan program.
Had the program been activated, the sender would have been able to see the contents of all the files on the NSC's computer system, including CDs and disks used on the system. Given the sensitivity of much of the materials, this e-mail attack, though unsuccessful, is being viewed with the utmost seriousness.
The e-mail was discovered on the computer of Ko's former secretary, who had been transferred to another post in July.
The current secretary had not yet checked e-mail, and as a result, the NSC's system was unaffected.
Similar e-mails were also sent to senior officials in other government departments, although the full extent of the attack is not yet known. Officials said that an investigation was underway.
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