Government agencies last year reported 525 cybersecurity threats, nine of which were relatively severe, a report released by the Executive Yuan’s Department of Cyber Security showed.
Information security threats are classified into four severity levels, with level 1 indicating the least serious threat and level 4 the most serious.
Last year, there were 451 level 1 attacks and 65 level 2 attacks on government agencies, department data showed.
Nine level 3 attacks were also recorded, but nothing merited a level 4 classification.
The main types of threats were unauthorized access, Web page attacks, equipment issues and denial of service attacks, the department said.
Unauthorized access was the most common type, comprising 68.8 percent of all threats, it said, adding that the primary causes were vulnerabilities in third-party products, failure of hosts to automatically install updates and remote connection management issues.
Other cases involved ransomware attacks, malware attacks on security systems, latent malware on internal agency networks and systems built by contractors becoming a springboard for infiltration, the department added.
Web page attacks, or the improper control of permissions, file format restrictions and third-party updates targeted by hackers, comprised 6.7 percent of all reported threats, it said.
Threats were nearly evenly split between the central and local governments, with 49 percent of reports coming from federal agencies and 51 percent originating from local agencies, it added.
In its report, which was released late last month, the department recommended how to counter five categories of threats: personal information leaks, ransomware denial of service attacks, malware seeded due to non-updated firmware, persistent attacks designed to steal sensitive data and external supply chain hacks.
For example, in one of the level 3 threats, hackers extracted the login information of a firm handling equipment maintenance for a government agency, the report said.
They were then able to access other equipment within the agency and use ransomware to encrypt data, making normal operation impossible until the hackers released the system, it said.
Ransomware attacks have become a regular occurrence, the report said, adding that response measures hinge on shortening the recovery time.
Agencies should also be sure to patch vulnerabilities and update firmware, implement access controls on internal networks, create off-site backups and conduct regular response drills, it added.
In addition, government agencies should not use equipment or software created in China, the report said.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS