Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) officials yesterday confirmed that the digital display networks of several 7-Eleven outlets and a Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) station had been hacked, displaying messages attacking US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday, despite warnings and threats from Beijing, which said it would consider her visit a major provocation.
Digital displays at several 7-Eleven outlets displayed a message in Chinese that read: “Warmonger Pelosi get out of Taiwan,” with an image of her grimacing face.
Photo grab from the Baofei Commune Facebook page
The bureau said the server of the chain stores’ contractor had been hacked.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said it was most likely the handiwork of Chinese hackers, who also targeted Kaohsiung’s New Zuoying Railway Station, whose digital display showed a message in simplified Chinese calling Pelosi an “old witch.”
“This is an attack on Taiwan through cyberwarfare. It is very serious, and we must find ways to block it and take countermeasures,” Chao said.
Photo copied by Cheng-feng, Taipei Times
“Taiwan is facing a hooligan country, and such large-scale hacking could be the initial phase of Chinese military maneuvers,” he added. “It has happened to 7-Eleven stores, which shows that any smart online network operated by the government and private sectors could be disabled and shut down by hackers. Taiwan must deal with this scenario in our military wargames.”
The bureau said that Taipei-based Hsuan Yang Advertising Co, which operates the Taiwan Railways Administration’s signboards, was hacked at about 10am yesterday.
Railway officials said they cut off the signboard’s power quickly, and alerted its contractor to shut down all operating signboards while it worked on the problem.
The TRA said its Web site and database were not compromised as they run on a different network.
Experts said the hacking incident exposed possible problems, such as the likelihood of the contractor having links to China or Chinese funding, or that the TRA did not strictly require compliance with regulations banning the use of China-made hardware and software.
As many devices are linked via Internet-of-Things networks and passwords can be easily hacked, it is concerning that the railway network, a part of the nation’s basic infrastructure, is vulnerable to intrusion by hackers and that other government sites might also be compromised, they said.
Additional reporting by AFP
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RSS