Taiwan was the No. 1 target of cyberattacks in the world during the first quarter of this year, IT security company Check Point said yesterday.
The average number of weekly cyberattacks globally per organization rose 7 percent from a year earlier to 1,248 during the first quarter, targeting government agencies, private firms and education institutions, the company said.
However,the number of weekly cyberattacks against Taiwan per organization averaged 3,250 over the period, 2.6 times the global average, it said.
Photo: Reuters
Globally, academic institutions, universities and research centers were the No. 1 targets, coming under 2,507 cyberattacks per week on average, an increase of 15 percent from a year earlier, it said.
The trend points to the vulnerability of such institutions amid online teaching and videoconferencing, it said, adding that most of them lack the IT competency for data protection.
They can become easy targets when expanding their network, as hackers can target wireless access point stations, it said.
The No. 2 target of cyberattacks globally were government agencies and military branches, which came under 1,725 attacks per week on average, an increase of 3 percent annually, the company said.
Hospitals and healthcare institutions were targeted 1,684 times per week on average, up 22 percent annually, while retailers were attacked 1,079 per week on average, up 49 percent from a year earlier, Check Point said.
By region, African countries experienced the most attacks globally at 1,983 per week on average, down 2 percent from a year earlier, the report said.
Countries in the Asia-Pacific region came under 1,835 attacks per week on average, up 16 percent, while North American countries sustained an average of 950 attacks per week, an increase of 9 percent from a year earlier.
Check Point urged cybersecurity agencies to remain vigilant at all times, initiate new policies, and eliminate potential cybersecurity loopholes and breach points.
They should apply integrated solutions for end-to-end preventive controls against hackers using the latest technology, the company said.
Hackers might use remote access of phishing e-mails to mount attacks, it said, urging cybersecurity units to make sure their IT frameworks adopt “network segmentation” to confine attacks to a limited section of their network.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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