Taiwan is increasingly under threat from cyberattacks, but it still largely relies on imported software and hardware for cybersecurity, information security specialists said on Sunday.
Taiwan has the highest frequency of cyberattacks in Asia due to its geopolitical status, and the situation is being exacerbated by an increasing reliance on cloud-based services and the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI), Taipei University of Technology vice president Yang Shih-hsuan (楊士萱) said.
Systex Solutions Corp vice president Chan Yi-cheng (詹伊正) said that Taiwanese start-ups are reluctant to develop their own systems due to the relatively small size of the domestic market and the large amount of capital needed.
The issue must be addressed through policy support, and subsequently through legislation that prohibits Taiwanese firms from using components made in China or elsewhere in the domestic manufacture of cybersecurity systems, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator-at-large Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said.
The government should not leave the development of such crucial technology to private industry alone, and should do more to cultivate local talent, he said.
Chan said the industry is facing a shortage of about 80,000 people, and without government assistance it is unlikely to secure the talent and funding it needs.
The ruling DPP has prioritized the development of the domestic defense industry, and this must include cybersecurity.
The EU’s European External Action Service’s second Report on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Threats, published on Jan. 23, highlighted cyberattacks targeting Taiwan from Dec. 1, 2022, to Nov. 30 last year. The attacks listed in the report mostly comprised “non-illegal pattern of behavior that threatens or has the potential to negatively impact values, procedures and political processes.” However, while most cyberattacks originating in China currently are part of cognitive warfare efforts aimed at social disruption in Taiwan, China could try to compromise Taiwan’s critical infrastructure.
A report by NBC News on Aug. 13 last year cited the US’ Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s annual threat assessment report as saying that “China almost certainly is capable of launching cyber attacks that could disrupt critical infrastructure services within the United States.”
Beijing would likely seek do so in the event of an attack on Taiwan, as a means of deterring the US from involvement in the conflict, the news report cited US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency director Jen Easterly as saying.
If Beijing could launch effective cyberattacks on US infrastructure during a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, then it would most certainly do the same to Taiwan. Such infrastructure-targeting cyberattacks are no longer hypothetical, after hackers on Nov. 25 last year took control of a part of the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa in the US state of Pennsylvania. The hackers entered the system through an Israeli-made programmable logic controller, the Hill reported on Dec. 23.
This is all the more reason for Taiwan to develop its own cybersecurity software and hardware. Taiwanese information security specialist Liu Yan-po (劉彥伯) said that many of the systems in use in Taiwan come from the US or Israel. If hackers from China and elsewhere were capable of compromising US and Israeli systems, they would have a head start during an attack on Taiwan. Locally developed systems could slow down hackers enough for Taiwanese officials to launch response measures or switch to backup systems.
To ensure that Taiwan can remain resilient in the face of cyberthreats, the government should begin funding the development of domestically made cybersecurity systems, and encourage training in the industry through subsidies or guaranteed employment. Experts have predicted that the next major war would be fought in cyberspace, and while events in Ukraine prove that Taiwan must still be prepared for conventional warfare, it must also prepare itself on the digital front — before it is too late.
US President Donald Trump has gotten off to a head-spinning start in his foreign policy. He has pressured Denmark to cede Greenland to the United States, threatened to take over the Panama Canal, urged Canada to become the 51st US state, unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America” and announced plans for the United States to annex and administer Gaza. He has imposed and then suspended 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for their roles in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, while at the same time increasing tariffs on China by 10
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
Trying to force a partnership between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and Intel Corp would be a wildly complex ordeal. Already, the reported request from the Trump administration for TSMC to take a controlling stake in Intel’s US factories is facing valid questions about feasibility from all sides. Washington would likely not support a foreign company operating Intel’s domestic factories, Reuters reported — just look at how that is going over in the steel sector. Meanwhile, many in Taiwan are concerned about the company being forced to transfer its bleeding-edge tech capabilities and give up its strategic advantage. This is especially
Last week, 24 Republican representatives in the US Congress proposed a resolution calling for US President Donald Trump’s administration to abandon the US’ “one China” policy, calling it outdated, counterproductive and not reflective of reality, and to restore official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, enter bilateral free-trade agreement negotiations and support its entry into international organizations. That is an exciting and inspiring development. To help the US government and other nations further understand that Taiwan is not a part of China, that those “one China” policies are contrary to the fact that the two countries across the Taiwan Strait are independent and
RSS